does homework make you fat

September 1, 2013

10 min read

What Makes You Fat: Too Many Calories, or the Wrong Carbohydrates?

Rigorously controlled studies may soon give us a definitive answer about what causes obesity—excessive calories or the wrong carbohydrates

By Gary Taubes

Why do so many of us get so fat? the answer appears obvious. “The fundamental cause of obesity and overweight,” the World Health Organization says, “is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended.” Put simply, we either eat too much or are too sedentary, or both. By this logic, any excess of calories—whether from protein, carbohydrate or fat (the three main components, or “macronutrients,” in food)—will inevitably pack on the pounds. So the solution is also obvious: eat less, exercise more.

The reason to question this conventional thinking is equally self-evident. The eat less/move more prescription has been widely disseminated for 40 years, and yet the prevalence of obesity, or the accumulation of unhealthy amounts of body fat, has climbed to unprecedented levels. Today more than a third of Americans are considered obese—more than twice the proportion of 40 years ago. Worldwide, more than half a billion people are now obese.

Besides getting fatter, we are also developing more metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, which is marked by hormonal abnormalities in the processing and storage of nutrients and is far more common in obese individuals than in lean ones.

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The dissonance of an ever worsening problem despite a seemingly well-accepted solution suggests two possibilities. One, our understanding of why people get fat is correct, but those who are obese—for genetic, environmental or behavioral reasons—are unable or unwilling to heal themselves. Two, our understanding is wrong and hence so is the ubiquitous advice about how to make things better.

If the second option is true, then maybe what makes us fat is not an energy imbalance but something more akin to a hormonal defect, an idea embraced by European researchers prior to World War II. If so, the prime suspect or environmental trigger of this defect would be the quantity and quality of the carbohydrates we consume. Under this scenario, one fundamental error we have made in our thinking about obesity is to assume that the energy content of foods—whether avocado, steak, bread or soda—is what makes them fattening, not the effects that these foods, carbohydrates in particular, have on the hormones that regulate fat accumulation.

Given how often researchers refer to obesity as a disorder of the energy balance, one might assume that the concept had been rigorously tested decades ago. But a proper scientific vetting never actually happened. The experiments were too difficult, if not too expensive, to do correctly. And investigators typically thought the answer was obvious—we eat too much—and so the experiments were not worth the effort. As a result, the scientific underpinning of the most critical health issue of our era—the burgeoning rates of obesity and diabetes and their complications—remains very much an open question.

After a decade of studying the science and its history, I am convinced that meaningful progress against obesity will come only if we rethink and rigorously test our understanding of its cause. Last year, with Peter Attia, a former surgeon and cancer researcher, I co-founded a nonprofit organization, the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI), to address this lack of definitive evidence. With support from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation in Houston, Tex., we have recruited independent scientists to design and carry out the experiments that will meticulously test the competing hypotheses of obesity (and by extension, weight gain). The Arnold Foundation has committed to fund up to 60 percent of NuSI's current research budget and three years of operating expenses for a total of $40 million. The investigators will follow the evidence wherever it leads. If all works out as planned, we could have unambiguous evidence about the biological cause of obesity in the next half a dozen years.

The Hormone Hypothesis To understand what makes the hormone hypothesis of obesity so intriguing, it helps to grasp where the energy-balance hypothesis falls short. The idea that obesity is caused by consuming more calories than we expend supposedly stems from the first law of thermodynamics, which merely states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. As applied to biology, it means that energy consumed by an organism has to be either converted to a useful form (metabolized), excreted or stored. Thus, if we take in more calories than we expend or excrete, the excess has to be stored, which means that we get fatter and heavier. So far, so obvious. But this law tells us nothing about why we take in more calories than we expend, nor does it tell us why the excess gets stored as fat. And it is these “why” questions that need to be answered.

Specifically, why do fat cells accumulate fat molecules to excess? This is a biological question, not a physics one. Why are those fat molecules not metabolized instead to generate energy or heat? And why do fat cells take up excessive fat in some areas of the body but not others? Saying that they do so because excess calories are consumed is not a meaningful answer.

Answering these questions leads to consideration of the role that hormones—insulin, in particular—play in stimulating fat accumulation in different cells. Insulin is secreted in response to a type of carbohydrate called glucose. When the amount of glucose rises in the blood—as happens after eating a carbohydrate-rich meal—the pancreas secretes more insulin, which works to keep the blood glucose level from getting dangerously high. Insulin tells muscle, organ and even fat cells to take up the glucose and use it for fuel. It also tells fat cells to store fat—including fat from the meal—for later use. As long as insulin levels remain high, fat cells retain fat, and the other cells preferentially burn glucose (and not fat) for energy.

The main dietary sources of glucose are starches, grains and sugars. (In the absence of carbohydrates, the liver will synthesize glucose from protein.) The more easily digestible the carbohydrates, the greater and quicker the rise in blood glucose. (Fiber and fat in foods slow the process.) Thus, a diet rich in refined grains and starches will prompt greater insulin secretion than a diet that is not. Sugars—such as sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup—may play a key role because they also contain significant amounts of a carbohydrate called fructose, which is metabolized mostly by liver cells. Though not definitive, research suggests that high amounts of fructose may be an important cause of “insulin resistance.” When cells are insulin-resistant, more insulin is required to control blood glucose. The result, according to the hormone hypothesis, is an ever greater proportion of the day that insulin in the blood is elevated, causing fat to accumulate in fat cells rather than being used to fuel the body. As little as 10 or 20 calories stored as excess fat each day can lead over decades to obesity.

The hormone hypothesis suggests that the only way to prevent this downward spiral from happening, and to reverse it when it does, is to avoid the sugars and carbohydrates that work to raise insulin levels. Then the body will naturally tap its store of fat to burn for fuel. The switch from carbohydrate burning to fat burning, so the logic goes, might occur even if the total number of calories consumed remains unchanged. Cells burn the fat because hormones are effectively telling them to do so; the body's energy expenditure increases as a result. To lose excess body fat, according to this view, carbohydrates must be restricted and replaced, ideally with fat, which does not stimulate insulin secretion.

This alternative hypothesis of obesity implies that the ongoing worldwide epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes (which stems to great extent from insulin resistance) are largely driven by the grains and sugars in our diets. It also implies that the first step in solving these crises is to avoid sugars and limit consumption of starchy vegetables and grains, not worrying about how much we are eating and exercising.

Forgotten History Conventional wisdom did not always favor the energy-imbalance hypothesis that prevails today. Until World War II, the leading authorities on obesity (and most medical disciplines) worked in Europe and had concluded that obesity was, like any other growth disorder, caused by a hormonal and regulatory defect. Something was amiss, they believed, with the hormones and enzymes that influence the storage of fat in fat cells.

Gustav von Bergmann, a German internist, developed the original hypothesis more than a century ago. (Today the highest honor bestowed by the German Society of Internal Medicine is the Gustav von Bergmann Medal.) Bergmann evoked the term “lipophilia”—love of fat—to describe the affinity of different body tissues for amassing fat. Just as we grow hair in some places and not others, we store fat in some places and not others, and this “lipophilic tendency,” he assumed, must be regulated by physiological factors.

The lipophilia concept vanished after World War II with the replacement of German with English as the scientific lingua franca. Meanwhile the technologies needed to understand the regulation of fat accumulation in fat cells and thus the biological basis of obesity—specifically, techniques to accurately measure fatty acids and hormone levels in the blood—were not invented until the late 1950s.

By the mid-1960s it was clear that insulin was the primary hormone regulating fat accumulation, but by then obesity was effectively considered an eating disorder to be treated by inducing or coercing obese subjects to eat fewer calories. Once studies linked the amount of cholesterol in the blood to the risk of heart disease and nutritionists targeted saturated fat as the primary dietary evil, authorities began recommending low-fat, high -carbohydrate diets. The idea that carbohydrates could cause obesity (or diabetes or heart disease) was swept aside.

Still, a few working physicians embraced the carbohydrate/insulin hypothesis and wrote diet books claiming that fat people could lose weight eating as much as they wanted, so long as they avoided carbohydrates. Because the most influential experts believed that people got fat to begin with precisely because they ate as much as they wanted, these diet books were perceived as con jobs. The most famous of these authors, Robert C. Atkins, did not help the cause by contending that saturated fat could be eaten to the heart's delight—lobster Newburg, double cheeseburgers—so long as carbohydrates were avoided—a suggestion that many considered tantamount to medical malpractice.

Rigorous Experiments In the past 20 years significant evidence has accumulated to suggest that these diet doctors may have been right, that the hormone hypothesis is a viable explanation for why we get fat and that insulin resistance, driven perhaps by the sugars in the diet, is a fundamental defect not just in type 2 diabetes but in heart disease and even cancer. This makes rigorous testing of the roles of carbohydrates and insulin critically important. Because the ultimate goal is to identify the environmental triggers of obesity, experiments should, ideally, be directed at elucidating the processes that lead to the accumulation of excess fat. But obesity can take decades to develop, so any month-to-month fat gains may be too small to detect. Thus, the first step that NuSI-funded researchers will take is to test the competing hypotheses on weight loss, which can happen relatively quickly. These first results will then help determine what future experiments are needed to further clarify the mechanisms at work and which of these hypotheses is correct.

A key initial experiment will be carried out jointly by researchers at Columbia University, the National Institutes of Health, the Florida Hospital–Sanford-Burnham Translational Research Institute in Orlando, and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. In this pilot study, 16 overweight and obese participants will be housed throughout the experiment in research facilities to ensure accurate assessments of calorie consumption and energy expenditure. In stage one, the participants will be fed a diet similar to that of the average American—50 percent carbohydrates (15 percent sugar), 35 percent fat and 15 percent protein. Researchers will carefully manipulate the calories consumed until it is clear the participants are neither gaining nor losing fat. In other words, the calories they take in will match the calories they expend, as measured in a device called a metabolic chamber. For stage two, the subjects will be fed a diet of precisely the same number of calories they had been consuming—distributed over the same number of meals and snacks—but the composition will change dramatically.

The total carbohydrate content of the new diet will be exceedingly low—on the order of 5 percent, which translates to only the carbohydrates that occur naturally in meat, fish, fowl, eggs, cheese, animal fat and vegetable oil, along with servings of green leafy vegetables. The protein content of this diet will match that of the diet the subjects ate initially—15 percent of calories. The remainder—80 percent of calories—will consist of fat from these real food sources. The idea is not to test whether this diet is healthy or sustainable for a lifetime but to use it to lower insulin levels by the greatest amount in the shortest time.

Meaningful scientific experiments ideally set up a situation in which competing hypotheses make different predictions about what will happen. In this case, if fat accumulation is primarily driven by an energy imbalance, these subjects should neither lose nor gain weight because they will be eating precisely as many calories as they are expending. Such a result would support the conventional wisdom—that a calorie is a calorie whether it comes from fat, carbohydrate or protein. If, on the other hand, the macronutrient composition affects fat accumulation, then these subjects should lose both weight and fat on the carbohydrate-restricted regime and their energy expenditure should increase, supporting the idea that a calorie of carbohydrate is more fattening than one from protein or fat, presumably because of the effect on insulin.

One drawback to this rigorous scientific approach is that it cannot be rushed without making unacceptable compromises. Even this pilot study will take the better part of a year. The more ambitious follow-up trials will probably take another three years. As we raise more funds, we hope to support more testing—including a closer look at the role that particular sugars and macronutrients have on other disorders, such as diabetes, cancer and neurological conditions. None of these experiments will be easy, but they are doable.

One ultimate goal is to assure the general public that whatever dietary advice it receives—for weight loss, overall health and prevention of obesity—is based on rigorous science, not preconceptions or blind consensus. Obesity and type 2 diabetes are not only serious burdens to afflicted individuals but are overwhelming our health care system and likely our economy as well. We desperately need the kind of unambiguous evidence that the NuSi experiments are designed to generate if we are going to combat and prevent these disorders.

Do you burn more calories when you think hard?

Asks todd from tulsa, oklahoma, allison bond • october 27, 2008.

Can a mental workout produce a physical benefit? [Credit: Molika Ashford]

Although thinking hard often feels like a workout, you don’t actually burn more calories like you do when you break a sweat. But you might feel hungrier anyway, according to a study published in the September issue of Psychosomatic Medicine .

Researchers from Canada’s Université Laval found that strenuous mental activities, such as concentrating on an exam, may lead people to consume more calories than they burn during the task. Subjects completed one of three assignments of varying difficulty—relaxing, reading a text and completing an intense task on a computer—then ate a buffet lunch. Although the groups burned around the same amount of energy, students who performed the strenuous mental tasks, particularly the one on the computer, consumed significantly more calories than those who relaxed. The researchers hypothesized that this discrepancy could lead to weight gain.

“Computer-related activities represent a sedentary activity that is stressful and biologically demanding,” says Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput, a lead author on the study.

The students who had just finished the harder intellectual tasks ate around 200 more calories than did subjects who relaxed. This heartier appetite may be due to the increase of glucose levels in the blood that occurs after completing the arduous assignments, but not after relaxing.

Brain processes such as thinking are fueled by glucose , a simple sugar found in food. Prolonged thought requires more insulin , which may explain why completing the hardest task made subjects hungrier. Chaput and his team proposed that this dependence on glucose causes deep concentration to boost energy intake, since the brain quickly burns glucose stores and needs replenishment from food.

“Variations in glucose [in the bloodstream] may trigger episodes of hunger and higher food intake” in order to re-establish the balance of glucose in the bloodstream and keep it from rapidly increasing and decreasing, says Chaput.

Roller coaster glucose levels can lead to obesity. When the body releases insulin to mop up excess sugar in the bloodstream, blood sugar plunges. This fast drop increases appetite in an effort to bring blood sugar levels back up. After eating, the body releases even more insulin to get rid of extra glucose, and over time, this cycle of high and low blood sugar levels can impact metabolism, according to Loren Greene, an endocrinologist and obesity expert at New York University’s Langone Medical Center.

“People who are very stressed and studying for an exam might be up more hours to munch,” says Greene. The lack of sleep that often accompanies being overworked can also change the body’s normal secretion of hormones, she says, increasing hunger and leading to cravings.

This new study explains the inclination to eat more when completing mentally difficult tasks and hopefully will give employees even more reason to exercise, according to Chaput. “[Mental work] deserves to be counterbalanced by an adequate physical activity regimen,” he says.

So if night after night you’ve been up until the sun rises studying for exams and your pants seem tighter, you may have your brain to blame.

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About the Author

Allison Bond

for once i now understand the relationship between glucose, insulin and obesity. but why haven’t medicine and pschiatry/psychoanalysis found a perfect balance between ‘skinny’ and obesity without the exertions in a gym. healthcare must invent a way to make central obesity healthy. that will be it’s test. after all the health administrators and insurance and doctors have been stealing suffering public’s money for over a century. it’s time for a breakthrough. innit? thanks for correlating blood levels, insulin and obesity in this great article, allison.

always asked myself that. as a med student in my first year it was really interesting. thx!

Darn, i was hopping it did. but this cleared up why i feel hungry after reading.

That’s very interesting. I too have noticed how I tend to feel more hungry after either reading or writing and I do both of those activities on my computer. After performing a BMR calculation (yes, I know, not the most scientific thing in the world) I was hoping that my sedentary but thoughtful lifestyle might offer me some hope. Ah well! Looks like I’ll have to go for a walk more often.

This doesn’t sound like very strenuous concentration. When I was a mathematics major in college, I would sometimes concentrate so hard “steam” would literally come off of the top of my head. That heat has to come from somewhere.

This post is false!!!! here’s the original article of the researcher. !!! I want to know this “allison bond ” knows how to read… http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/70/7/797.short

they burn different amounts of energy and have the same appetite!!!!! the exact opposite of what this stupid allison writes!!!! :D

I agree with matteo. The study clearly showed a drop in glucose on the part of the KBW activity and attributed the observation (ie: Knowledge work leads to fluctuations in glucose level due to brain activity) as an obesity risk.

Comprehension is a required skill when dealing with the language of Science.

Skepticism is a required life skill when dealing with web posts. Do not trust and always verify.

@matteo, the post is by no means false. The abstract clearly states that energy intake (i.e., calories consumed) were significantly higher in the two working groups compared to resting controls. ‘Energy intake’ refers to calories consumed, not calories burnt, as you supposedly misunderstood. There was a significant difference in appetites, again ‘no specific dietary preference’ is very, very, different from “having the same appetite!!!!!”. I would go into more details, but I shall stop here simply because I don’t even know where to begin to explain things to you.

Check whether you know how to read scientific articles first, before posting inane comments. And do away with the multiple exclamation marks, might make you look less inane the next time around.

I am wondering why Cognitive Load theory isn’t considered? Perhaps they just are more as kind of rewarding themselves?

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Mom, Homework Is Making Me Fat

A new study published in Obesity begs the question: does homework contribute to childhood obesity?

In a cross-sectional cohort study, Isabelle Michaud and colleagues found significantly more symptoms of obesity in boys with a higher workload of homework combined with stress related to school. The authors comment that:

Current findings are in line with previous studies conducted in adults where exposure to mental stress at work was linked to body weight gain and in children who have higher energy intake on examination days.

It’s important to note that cause and effect cannot be determined from a cross sectional study such as this. The authors note, in fact, that visceral adiposity could be responsible for stress and difficulty with homework. So obesity could be the cause of these boys spending more time doing their homework. The nature of this study makes it impossible to know one way or the other.

But what is becoming increasingly clear is that educators are rethinking the role of homework in education. In a paper published last year in the Journal of Experimental Education, Galloway et al found that “students who did more hours of homework experienced greater behavioral engagement in school but also more academic stress, physical health problems, and lack of balance in their lives.” They concluded, “our current homework practices seem to be serving few students well.”

So while we can’t say excessive homework is behind the rise in childhood obesity, we have plenty of reasons to ask questions about how much homework is healthy for our kids.

Click  here  to read the study in Obesity, here to read the study in the Journal of Experimental Education, and here to read more on the subject from CNN.

Concentrating on Homework, photograph © Sharyn Morrow / flickr

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How to Work From Home Without Gaining Weight

Tips to overcome the eating challenges of working from home.

This article is based on reporting that features expert sources.

Work From Home Without Gaining Weight

As the coronavirus continues to escalate, we have all learned a new lexicon – social distancing , pandemic pantry, community spread, flatten the curve and increasingly, shelter in place.

Getty Images

With this new normal of "everything's cancelled," many of us are also facing a new situation: working from home. That's certainly true for me. My home office is my new office.

If you find yourself working from home for the first time, it brings with it all sorts of adjustments – like how to be productive if the house is full of kids because schools are closed.

This sudden change in routine may also be challenging for your self-care. Your gym workouts are likely disrupted, and perhaps you're tempted to dig into your quarantine stockpile and finish it on the first few days. Or maybe all that stress baking has you eating cupcakes for breakfast and digging into your stash of chocolate chips in the afternoon.

Working from home doesn't need to derail your good intentions.

Here are some steps you can take to stay on track with your healthy lifestyle when working from home:

• Create a routine.
• Avoid the kitchen for your workspace.
• Make time for movement.
• Start your day off right.
• Plan your snacks.
• Eat a veggie-filled lunch.
• Get in touch with your hunger.
• Manage alcohol consumption.
• Get adequate sleep.

Create a Routine

The most difficult part of working from home when it comes to eating is the lack of structure, says Lisa Young, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in New York City and author of "Finally Full, Finally Slim." She encourages setting up a structure for the day: Plan when, what and how much you're going to eat, and try to stick to it as best as possible.

Libby Mills, a Philadelphia-based registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, agrees. She says working from home can seem like every day is a weekend, when there's typically less structure to your day.

"Weekends can mean skipping meals, snacking throughout the day and overindulging at dinner," Mills says. "Don't let your Monday through Friday become like a weekend."

A set schedule will help tune out the cues that are part of weekend days, so you can be productive and not find yourself noshing all day and skipping physical activity, she says.

Avoid the Kitchen for Your Workspace

Don't set up your laptop on the kitchen table. Find another spot to work, so you're not constantly tempted to snack. If you don't have a home office, find a quiet area away from the fridge to do your work. Only visit the kitchen when you plan to sit down and have a meal or snack – never eat standing up, typing or watching TV. Multi-tasking when eating means you'll likely eat more, yet enjoy it less.

Make Time for Movement

Vandana Sheth, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, recommends taking a break each day to walk in your neighborhood, work out with equipment at home, put on some music and have a dance party with your kids or try an online yoga or fitness class.

Try not sitting longer than 60 minutes at one time, suggests Jerlyn Jones, an RDN in Atlanta and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Set a timer and get up, walk around for 5 minutes and stretch. Stand while talking on the phone, and take your dog for a walk during a break."

Start Your Day off Right

Your morning routine has changed, but don't neglect a nutritious, filling breakfast in the morning. Jones recommends overnight oats – a no-cook method of making oatmeal the night before. Additional a.m. ideas include fruit and vegetable smoothies, a breakfast burrito with eggs, spinach, tomatoes and cheese wrapped in a whole-wheat tortilla or a whole-grain English muffin topped with peanut butter.

Plan Your Snacks

Just like the pitfalls of the candy dish at your office, avoid creating similar temptations at home. Jones recommends keeping a bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter or in clear containers in the refrigerator – making the healthy choice an easy choice. She suggests having additional snacks ready in the fridge, such as pre-cut vegetables like carrots, celery and bell peppers with hummus and mozzarella cheese sticks.

Young suggests pre-portioning snacks in advance. It's really easy to eat an entire jar of nuts mindlessly, she says. Using a ¼-cup measuring cup to gauge a 1-ounce serving and adding to small plastic bags will help with portion control.

Eat a Veggie-Filled Lunch

"When it comes to lunches, there are so many benefits to being at home," says Regan Jones, a Georgia-based registered dietitian nutritionist, founding editor of Healthy Aperture.com and podcaster at This Unmillennial Life. "Most notably, there's time to do that veggie prep you're always too busy to do when you're rushing out the door. I've recently started making plant bowls for lunch daily, and they require less time than you may think."

One of her favorite plant bowls from pantry staples is a combination of brown rice, black beans seasoned with cumin and chili powder, canned corn, salsa and canned diced tomatoes.

"Ideally, I'd add in some fresh greens if I have them on hand and maybe some roasted veggies left over from dinner. The point is all of these items are quick, easy and hopefully something you stocked up on before you started working from home."

Get in Touch with Your Hunger

Recognize when you are truly hungry and not just bored, lonely, stressed or overwhelmed, suggests Dr. Michelle May, founder of www.AmIHungry.com.

"If you are hungry, plan to take a break to make a snack or meal. Sit at a table away from your desk and computer and eat mindfully. You'll enjoy the food more and find it easier to notice when you've had enough."

If you're not hungry yet, May suggests drinking a glass of water, taking a short break, changing tasks, making a phone call, prioritizing your to-do list or connecting with your co-workers virtually.

Manage Alcohol Consumption

One recent tweet I happened to see was a woman giving advice to those working from home: Wait until you change out of your day pajamas to your nighttime pajamas before you start mixing drinks. A funny quip of a realistic concern.

Feeling isolated at home and stressed over these uncertain times could lead to excess drinking . "Do not drown your sorrows in booze," says Leslie Bonci , a Pittsburgh-based registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Active Eating. "Only enjoy a glass of wine or beer with meals, rather than alone."

Get Adequate Sleep

Too often, staying at home allows us to blow-off work during the day pushing our screen-time into the night, Mills says. Then we stay up later to unwind, which can create the opportunity for extra calories from late-night snacking .

"Ironically, working from home might lead to getting even less sleep than when we have to go to bed and get up to go to work," she said. "Not getting enough sleep can be a trigger for overeating or craving quick energy from sweets the next day as we struggle to stay focused, productive and motivated. Getting enough sleep is important for managing weight."

To thrive in this time of hunkering down at home, May recommends creating a strong self-care buffer zone with regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and staying connected to your family, friends and co-workers virtually.

8 Unexpected Signs You’re Stressed

The U.S. News Health team delivers accurate information about health, nutrition and fitness, as well as in-depth medical condition guides. All of our stories rely on multiple, independent sources and experts in the field, such as medical doctors and licensed nutritionists. To learn more about how we keep our content accurate and trustworthy, read our  editorial guidelines .

Bonci is a sports dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs and owner of Active Eating Advice.

Jones is a registered dietitian and creator of This Baking Life.

Based in the greater Philadelphia area, Mills is a culinary nutritionist, registered dietitian, speaker, author and Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics spokesperson.

Sheth is a nationally recognized and award-winning registered dietitian nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist and CEO of a successful nutrition practice that offers in-person counseling in the Los Angeles area, as well as a virtual nutrition coaching program. She is also author of "My Indian Table: Quick & Tasty Vegetarian Recipes."

Young is a registered dietitian nutritionist, author and adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University.

Tags: diet and nutrition , exercise and fitness , Coronavirus , food and drink , weight loss , cooking , work-life balance

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Unfortunately, the facts are indisputable: To many, a chili-cheese omelet is more delicious than a veggie egg-white omelet, French fries taste better than side salads and chicken is tastier when battered and fried.

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A healthy weight is a lot easier to accomplish when the right choices become second nature. In other words, weight-loss goals are more achievable when healthy choices turn into healthy habits. Here are 11 that might result in fat gain — and are worth breaking up with pronto.

1. Poor Prep

Boy Scouts and healthy eaters have the same motto: Be prepared. Having a refrigerator and pantry stocked with the right foods — lean proteins, whole-grain carbohydrates, fruits, non-starchy vegetables and healthy fats — means you'll be prepared to eat what you should when you should.

Prepare your meals and snacks for the week ahead on Sunday, and portion them out in your refrigerator in containers. You can hard-boil six or seven eggs , and keep them in the fridge for breakfasts or snacks.

Or, cook up a large batch of steel-cut oats on Sunday, and measure it into single portion sizes in bowls covered with plastic wrap for later. You can reheat these in one minute in the microwave each workday morning. Similarly, entering a restaurant armed with a plan will keep you on the right track when dining out.

Preparation also means knowing your cravings and having healthy alternatives on hand to curb them, says Molly Kimball, RD based in New Orleans. If sweets are your weakness, for example, keep fresh fruit on hand to satisfy your sweet tooth without taking a huge caloric hit.

‌ Read more: ‌ 28 Eating Secrets to Help You Lose Weight (and Save Money, Too!)

2. Not Drinking Enough Water

Drinking enough water keeps our skin looking young and healthy and our digestive system running full steam ahead. But Kimball says proper hydration can also help when you're concerned about weight.

"Fatigue is one of the first signs of mild dehydration," Kimball said. "A lot of people misinterpret that sluggish feeling as hunger and they eat to boost energy."

In fact, replacing diet beverages with water helped people who have overweight and obesity lose more weight, a December 2017 study published in the ‌ International Journal of Obesity ‌ found.

In another study, researchers from Virginia Tech observed that people who drank two 8-ounce glasses of water before their three daily meals lost about five pounds more than dieters who do not drink pre-meal water, per the results presented at an American Chemical Society meeting

So how much water is the right amount? Kimball says the old "64 ounces a day" rule is too one-size-fits-all; different bodies need different amounts of water. She says a good guideline is to divide your weight in half and drink that number of ounces per day. So a 180-pound person would shoot for 90 ounces of H2O.

3. Overdoing It With Liquid Calories

Calorie-free coffee and tea provide beneficial antioxidants ; however, you can easily sabotage your cup by adding caloric creamers and sweet toppings such as caramel and whipped cream that can add hundreds of calories.

Liquid calories also often come in the form of alcoholic beverages, and those should be limited, too. If you can't do without, Kimball recommends sticking with wine, light beer or liquor with a noncaloric mixer like water, club soda or diet soda. Women should limit alcohol consumption to one drink per day, and men should stop at two.

Say "yes" to water, unsweetened tea or coffee and "no" to soda, juice and those beloved blended coffee drinks. And when it comes to alcohol, steer clear of anything with sugary mixers.

4. Not Getting Enough Zzzs

You don't even need to be conscious to work on losing weight. Getting the right amount of sleep seems to be a major factor in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.

A November 2006 study published in the ‌ American Journal of Epidemiology ‌tracked the weight and sleeping habits of over 68,000 women over 16 years. The women who reported sleeping five hours or less nightly weighed an average of 5 1/2 pounds more than the women who slept seven hours or more at the start of the study.

The reason is hormones, specifically leptin and ghrelin. Sleep deprivation causes a reduction in leptin levels, while also causing ghrelin levels to rise, according to the National Sleep Foundation . High ghrelin stimulates the appetite, while low leptin makes you feel unsatisfied after eating, leaving you hungrier during your waking hours and, likely, heavier.

Make it a goal to get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. And if you're having trouble hitting the hay, check out these simple tricks to get the best night's rest .

‌ Read more: ‌ 12 Foods That Help You Fall (and Stay) Asleep

5. Leaving the TV On

If you rely on a few calming episodes of ‌ Planet Earth ‌ to help you fall asleep, you may be setting yourself up for weight gain.

Sleeping with a source of artificial light (such as your TV, e-reader, iPad or laptop) might contribute to weight gain or even obesity, a June 2019 study published in ‌ JAMA Internal Medicine ‌ suggests. While using a small nightlight wasn't associated with weight gain, the researchers observed that participants who slept with light or the TV on were 17 percent more likely to gain about 11 pounds.

To get better sleep, consider moving the TV out of your bedroom — but if you can't, try turning it off an hour before you hit the hay.

6. Shopping (Mostly) in the Center Aisles

A good basic rule to follow at the grocery store is to do most of your shopping near the four walls. "The perimeter of the grocery store is what you need to be eating," says Nicole Wynne, RD and staff dietitian at Women & Men's Nutrition and Weight Control Centers of Louisiana.

"It's where you usually find the fresh produce, the meats and the dairy. In the middle aisles, you find more of the processed foods you want to avoid."

Wynne says there are a few exceptions, namely in the freezer section with its frozen vegetables and no-sugar-added frozen fruits and berries, which are nutritious additions to smoothies , yogurt and oatmeal. You can also find nut butters, whole grains and some other healthy, less-processed foods in the middle.

Make sure the bulk of your grocery shopping happens in the perimeter of the grocery store, where the whole foods are. And avoid the stuff with refined grains, added sugars and artificial additives in the center aisles.

7. Poor Record Keeping

You want to lose weight, and you've been trying to maintain a healthy diet, but the pounds are not melting off. The problem may be that you're eating more than you think.

Failing to keep tabs on your daily munchies — think: a square of chocolate here, a handful of chips there — can all add up. And you're especially at risk at the office: People who reach for free food at the office added an extra 1,300 calories to their week, according to research presented at the American Society for Nutrition .

A food diary can be an effective solution.

"Write down everything that goes in your mouth," says Wynne. By doing this, you'll get the full picture of your diet. It's impossible to forget the handful of candy-coated chocolates you eat every time you pass your co-worker's candy jar if it's right there in black and white.

Knowing you'll have to write it down might make you reconsider that late-night bowl of ice cream. Also, once you've kept your diary for a while, you'll probably begin to notice patterns such as a caloric uptick in the evenings and you can adjust accordingly.

8. Avoiding Weights

You will not achieve your weight-loss goals easily through diet and cardio alone. A regimen that combines strength training and cardiovascular exercise optimizes the ability to shed pounds.

In fact, adopting a resistance training regimen can help you lose more weight than just doing cardio, according to the American Council on Exercise . While both weightlifting and cardio burn calories and boost metabolism, cardio only raises the metabolism during the exercise and for a short time after.

Weightlifting, however, increases metabolism during the exercise and for a long time after. This "afterburn" — the continued burning of calories from lifting weights after the training session has ended — can last for hours, even days.

Include weight training or resistance training at least twice a week, the American Heart Association recommends. Opting for the gym machines, free weights or just body weight will do. If you find yourself confused at the gym, consult our go-to guide on how beginners can start strength training .

‌ Read more: ‌ 10 Exercise Variations for Greater and Faster Results

9. Dining Out Too Often

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), one-third of a person's daily caloric intake comes from food and drinks consumed away from home. The culprit: Dining out.

Dining out can get tricky if you're watching your weight or trying to eat healthier because it's hard to know what exactly goes into your order. While many restaurants are now posting nutrition facts, we still don't know the quality of the ingredients being used. What's more, restaurants often dish out larger-than-standard serving sizes, so you're inclined to eat more, taking in more calories than you may have intended.

The best way to keep a lid on calories is to take cooking into your own hands. Aim to cut down or minimize meals eaten out.

When you do go to a restaurant, be sure to choose healthier items on the menu , and be mindful of the portions. Servings can be oversized and, rather than eating the entire portion, you can save half for the next day's lunch.

10. Throwing in the Towel

Cut yourself some slack. It's one of the most important things you can do when you're trying to lose weight.

"If you blow a meal, it is not a free pass to blow the rest of the day."

Missteps happen. You succumb to a craving and have an unhealthy lunch. Forgive yourself for it and get back to your plan right away!

"If you blow a meal, it is not a free pass to blow the rest of the day," says Wynne. Those who give up for the rest of the day, week, month or year due to a momentary setback will never achieve lasting weight loss. Mistakes happen, and the weight-loss battle is won and lost by how you respond to those mistakes.

The best way to continue after a setback, Wynne says, is to forgive yourself for the lapse in willpower and move on at once, immediately resuming your healthy lifestyle.

If you see yourself in any of these habits that can make you gain fat, the best time to start changing them is right now. For every "bad" habit, there's a smarter one. And the only way to turn healthy choices into healthy habits is repetition. So start shedding your unhealthy habits, and you'll be shedding pounds soon enough.

Click below to pin and save these tips for later!

‌ Read more: ‌ How to Lose Weight if You Can't Stop Eating

• Research and Markets: "The U.S. Weight Loss & Diet Control Market"
• ACS Chemistry For Life: "Clinical Trial Confirms Effectiveness of Simple Appetite Control Method"
• International Journal of Obesity: "Effects of Replacing Diet Beverages With Water on Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance"
• American Journal of Epidemiology: "Association between Reduced Sleep and Weight Gain in Women"
• National Sleep Foundation: "The Connection Between Sleep and Overeating"
• JAMA Internal Medicine: "Association of Exposure to Artificial Light at Night While Sleeping With Risk of Obesity in Women"
• American Council on Exercise: "Weight Lifting for Weight Loss"
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: "How Many Calories? Keep an Eye on the Menu"
• American Heart Association: "Strength and Resistance Training Exercise"

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More than two hours of homework may be counterproductive, research suggests.

A Stanford education researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.   "Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good," wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .   The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students' views on homework.   Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.   Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.   "The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students' advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being," Pope wrote.   Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.   Their study found that too much homework is associated with:   • Greater stress : 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.   • Reductions in health : In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.   • Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits : Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were "not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills," according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.   A balancing act   The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.   Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as "pointless" or "mindless" in order to keep their grades up.   "This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points," said Pope, who is also a co-founder of Challenge Success , a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GSE that conducts research and works with schools and parents to improve students' educational experiences..   Pope said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.   "Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope.   High-performing paradox   In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. "Young people are spending more time alone," they wrote, "which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities."   Student perspectives   The researchers say that while their open-ended or "self-reporting" methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for "typical adolescent complaining" – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.   The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Clifton B. Parker is a writer at the Stanford News Service .

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How to Avoid Weight Gain While Working a Desk Job

Last Updated: September 26, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Claudia Carberry, RD, MS . Claudia Carberry is a Registered Dietitian specializing in kidney transplants and counseling patients for weight loss at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She is a member of the Arkansas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Claudia received her MS in Nutrition from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2010. This article has been viewed 247,962 times.

Office workers, especially those with a desk job, spend most of the day sitting down working at a computer. It can be very easy to gain weight in an environment where you're expected to sit still for anywhere from eight to nine hours a day. There are some steps you can take to avoid gaining weight while working a desk job, and perhaps lose some weight you've already gained.

Choosing Healthy Meals and Snacks

• Always make sure to pack lunches that have lean protein and fruits or vegetables. The combination of these foods will keep you satisfied throughout your long work day.
• Make packing your lunches fun. Purchase a new lunch box and small tupperware for convenient packaging.
• Quicken your morning routine and pack your lunch at night. Whether it's leftovers or a salad, if your lunch is packed at night and ready to go in the morning, you're more likely to bring it with you to work.
• Healthy packed lunch options can include: spinach salad with grilled chicken, vegetables and vinaigrette dressing; two lettuce wraps with deli meat and sliced cheese and a small piece of fruit; whole wheat wrap with sliced vegetables, avocado and hummus with a small piece of fruit; or homemade chili with shredded cheese, diced onions and avocado.

• If you do eat in a restaurant or cafeteria, look for smaller portions. Do they offer half a sandwich with a salad or cup of soup?
• Look for the foods that are lower in calories, such as salads.
• Split an entree with a friend. This will automatically cut your portion in half and limit the calories you consume. This is also a good idea if you're in the mood for something more indulgent.
• Ask your server to box up half your entree before it arrives. If it's out of sight, it'll be out of mind.
• Research the restaurant and menu prior to arriving. This will help you determine what healthy options are available. Arriving prepared will help keep you from falling for the temptations of specials and help to keep you on track with your healthy eating plan.

• Avoid the afternoon slump by skipping these larger meals and sticking to your healthier packed lunch.
• Still feeling tired after lunch? Take a quick walk to wake you up! This will revitalize your brain without the extra snack calories.

• Snacks should always contain protein and a fruit or vegetable. This power team gives you the needed energy and fuel to keep you going through your busy day. [1] X Research source
• Snacks should also be "snack" sized, not a mini meal. Stick with pre-portioned snacks or give yourself a calorie limit like 200 calories per snack.
• Healthy snack options include things like: carrots and hummus, a low-fat cheese stick and an apple, celery sticks with peanut butter or low-fat yogurt with fruit.

• Do not keep your own candy bowl or drawer in your office. If it's hard to keep your hand out of your co-worker's candy jar, avoid walking by their desk or take a different route to your destination.
• Don't look into the vending machine. Even with the best intentions, sometimes even glancing at that candy bar might be too tempting to resist. Don't tease yourself and stick to your plan.

• Monitor the volume of liquids you consume by purchasing a labeled water bottle. This will help you track and achieve your water goal throughout the day.
• Even mild dehydration has side effects. Many times, dehydration can cause afternoon fatigue and grogginess. [2] X Research source Prevent this by sipping all day long.
• Stay away from sodas and sugary drinks. They're very tempting, and can help you stay awake while working, but they are full of empty calories in the form of sugar. If you still need the caffeine, consider coffee or tea with skim milk and limited sweetener.

• Stock up your desk drawer or locker with healthy, shelf-stable snack foods. Low-calorie protein bars, sturdy fruits like apples or portion-controlled bags of nuts are good options to have on hand.
• Make a list of healthy snacks you want to have for the week. Then, each weekend, you can shop and prepare your healthy snacks and bring your week's worth each Monday morning.

Adding Physical Activity

• Set a timer on your phone or computer to help remind you to move.
• Drink lots and lots of water. The more water you drink, the more often you'll be up using the restroom.
• Give yourself a goal to get up and move at least five to eight times a day and keep track of your progress each week.

• Find ways to walk more throughout your day. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park farther away, get up to deliver a message instead of emailing it or walk to a bathroom further away from your desk.
• Download a free app on your phone, purchase an affordable pedometer or spring for a fitness watch or band for a fun way to track your daily steps.
• 10,000 steps should be your ultimate goal each day. If you're not there yet, creep up on the ultimate goal by setting mini-goals over time. For example, increase your steps by 200, 500, or 1,000 each day until you have met and surpassed the ultimate goal on an ongoing basis.

• Review your schedule the day before and see if you can fit in just a few minutes of exercise — 10 minutes before a meeting or a 20 minutes during some down time. Schedule it so you remember!
• De-stress after a long meeting with a quick yoga routine. It requires little to no equipment and you won't need to worry about getting too sweaty.
• Try standing as you type or send emails. Standing is better for your posture and helps engage more muscle groups than sitting.

• Try taking a walking meeting with a co-worker instead of talking at a desk.
• Take walks at lunchtime or before or after work. Get out and walk around the building, or the block. Get some natural sunlight if weather permits. If the weather is crummy, visit the nearest stairwell for a workout.
• Run in place at your desk or do a few knee raises or jumping jacks to get your heart rate up.

• Consider buying a small set of weights for bicep curls, lateral raises or shoulder presses. Or find office furniture to help do some isometric activities like wall push-ups, tricep dips from a stable chair or sitting leg raises. Change out your desk chair for a fitness stability ball to help strengthen core muscles.

• Set a goal for yourself each day. For example, walk 2,000 steps every hour or stand for one hour before sitting for 30 mins.
• Ask your office manager or HR department if they'd split the cost with you since these desks can be a little expensive.

Setting Up for Long-Term Success

• If friends and family don't jump on your healthy weight loss bandwagon, think about finding an online support group or a local group to meet up with. Email new friends that share your long-term goals.
• You can even sign up for diet programs like Weight Watchers just to go to their weekly support group meetings. You'll meet plenty of other dieters on the same mission.

• Get competitive with your co-workers. See who can get the most steps or pack their lunches the most days in a row! A little friendly competition or a fun prize is always a good motivator.
• Your new group can also be great way to get out of the office for a quick lunch break walk. Everyone needs a few minutes away from their desk! Take advantage of this and bring your group outside for a walk.
• Swap healthy recipes and meal ideas with your group. Recipe ruts can lead you right back to old habits of eating out. Creating a recipe swap with your weight loss group can help keep things spiced up in the kitchen.

• Consider what you need for your accountability. Maybe you need to purchase a scale or download a food journal app on your phone. Make sure you have these items in place prior to starting your lifestyle changes.
• Telling a friend or family member about your goals is another great method of staying accountable. Knowing that other people are aware of your goals and are aware of your actions can help keep you on track.

• Take some time and write out some habits you have at home that might be preventing you from losing weight or contributing to weight gain. Add these to your lifestyle changes at work to make sure you have a well-rounded plan of action.
• Apply the same healthy eating habits to your meals and snacks at home. Focus on protein, fruits, vegetables and whole grains as much as possible. Also, make sure your portions are appropriate.
• Fit in additional physical activity outside of work. Spend a couple days of the week doing some cardio and two to three days on strength training. Aim for at least 150 minutes of physical activity every week. [6] X Trustworthy Source Health.gov Online collection of health and fitness standards set by the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Go to source Even if you move around more at work, if you do not exercise at least 150 minutes per week then weight gain is inevitable.

Defining Your Goals

• Using that same chart, find the weight for your height that would put you into a healthy BMI category for 19 – 24.9. Subtract that healthy weight from your current weight to see about how much weight you should lose.
• Speak to your doctor about your weight and weight loss plan to make sure it's a healthy and safe option for you. Ask your doctor for a referral to see a registered dietitian who can help you plan meals, helping you lose weight while making sure you get all the nutrients necessary to stay healthy and energetic.

• Make sure to set safe, realistic weight loss goals. Weight loss of more than 1 – 2 pounds per week is generally not safe, healthy or sustainable long-term.
• Invest in a home scale so you can accurately weigh yourself each day or week.
• Make a chart or record where you can track your progress. This will help you stay motivated and accountable to yourself as you go along.

• Write out each of your goals ensuring they are very specific, realistic and have a time limit. For example, "I'm going to exercise three days a week for 45 minutes for the next three months."
• Choose one goal at a time. If you try to change multiple things in your life all at one time, it can be difficult, overwhelming and frustrating. Stick to one or two changes every week or so for long-term success.
• Keep a journal to log your successes and challenges. Write about how easy or difficult some of these changes are.

Snack, Meal, and Exercise Ideas

Expert Q&A

• Buy a fun water bottle with pictures or sayings, to inspire yourself to drink water. Do not fill it with anything other than water; make it special. Your water bottle also cuts down on your use of disposable cups. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Find alternate routes through your office building so you can add steps every day — like a bathroom that is farther away. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
• Suck on ice cubes during hot weather. Doing so helps to cool you and stops you reaching for candies and soft drinks. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.webmd.com/women/features/snack-smart?page=3
• ↑ http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/ss/slideshow-fatigue-causes-and-remedies
• ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/national/the-health-hazards-of-sitting/750/
• ↑ https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/03/31/is-walking-just-as-good-as-running
• ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/02/06/the-10-best-exercises-to-do-at-your-desk/
• ↑ http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/

About This Article

If your desk job has you sitting down for hours a day, make it a goal to get up from your desk and move around 5-8 times per day to prevent weight gain as well as back problems and muscle loss. Additionally, start packing your lunch instead of eating out each day, which gives you control over what you eat and makes it easier to avoid sneaky weight gain. Pack a lunch with more lean protein and veggies and les carbs to keep you satisfied and energized throughout the day. Also, be sure to drink plenty of water while you work, as dehydration causes fatigue and grogginess that can make you want to snack more. For more tips from our Dietician co-author, like how to add light cardio to your schedule and keep track of your fitness goals, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Is Your ADHD Brain Hard-Wired for Weight Gain?

You’re not imagining things — it is harder for you to lose weight and keep it off. here, learn about the neurological and psychological symptoms of adhd conspiring against you, plus strategies for healthier eating that you can begin today..

If ADHD were an animal, it might be a jackrabbit or, better yet, a Boxer — energetic, playful, highly engaged, and did we mention energetic? This is the stereotype, anyway. But the reality is that ADHD (particularly the inattentive type ) might just as easily be a lumbering Panda or Garfield the cat. In fact, ADHD does not automatically bring with it calorie-burning energy and a sleek physique. Its symptoms may actually trigger and exacerbate serious weight problems.

Indeed, decades of research show a strong correlation between ADHD and obesity — so strong, in fact, that someone with ADHD is four times more likely to become obese than is someone without ADHD. 1 Brain chemistry, poor impulse control, and erratic sleeping habits all conspire to encourage unhealthy eating — and to make weight loss feel impossible.

That doesn’t mean an individual with ADHD is doomed to a life of obesity. But it does necessitate a serious understanding of ADHD’s effect on food intake, exercise habits , and overall health. Here’s why ADHD may make you more prone to gaining unwanted weight — and what you can do to get healthy.

Why ADHD Often Leads to Obesity

Despite their assumed hyperactivity, people with ADHD are less physically active, eat less healthy foods, and have higher BMIs than do people without ADHD, according to studies. This may seem counterintuitive, but those who understand ADHD see why the connection makes sense: The symptoms of ADHD that make it hard to focus at school, succeed at work, or manage your relationships also make it exceedingly hard to eat properly and exercise on a regular schedule.

[ The ADHD-Dopamine Link: Why You Crave Sugar and Carbs ]

Some factors of ADHD that make it easier to slide toward obesity include:

Executive function deficits: Maintaining a healthy weight requires robust executive functioning skills — used for everything from planning balanced meals to sticking with that daily run. People with ADHD have naturally weaker executive functions, which makes starting (and keeping up with) a healthy daily routine much more taxing.

Impulsivity: ADHD and impulsivity are not synonymous, but individuals who do struggle with it know the devastating effect it can have on health. We are all bombarded with tantalizing (i.e. high-fat, high-sugar, high-carb) food on a daily basis. Most people can successfully manage their food-related impulses — and say no to a daily doughnut at the coffee shop, for instance. People with ADHD-fueled impulsivity cannot. Their impulsivity takes the wheel and they reach for (and devour) the junk food before their mind catches up to say, “No!”

Poor interoceptive awareness: Interoceptive awareness helps us sense what’s going on inside our bodies — whether that’s hunger cues, thirst markers, or physical fatigue. A person with ADHD, however, is oriented outward — always looking for the next source of stimulation. As a result, she may struggle to pay attention to and make sense of what her body is telling her. Someone with ADHD is more likely to interpret thirst (or boredom, or exhaustion) as hunger, and will often turn to food to fulfill that unclear internal need.

Poor sleep habits: A brain that’s constantly whirring will find it hard to “shut down” at the end of the day and fall asleep, so it’s no surprise that ADHD brings with it fitful or disordered sleep. And a wealth of research finds that sleep deprivation is a large factor in promoting obesity. When our bodies are sleep deprived, our brains release hormones that push us to overeat — particularly unhealthy foods that are high in fat and sugar. Simultaneously, our metabolism drops as our bodies attempt to conserve fat. This is an evolutionary relic of our caveman past — when lack of sleep usually meant famine — but in modern times, it backfires on sleep-deprived ADHD bodies.

“Procrastineating:” There’s an ADHD tendency to put off boring tasks by eating instead, a phenomenon that’s been dubbed “procrastineating.” Ordering, waiting for, and devouring a cheesy pizza is infinitely more interesting to the ADHD brain than is writing a term paper. Therefore snacking becomes a tempting — albeit unhealthy — form of procrastination. (And it certainly doesn’t help us get our work done any faster, either!)

Low levels of neurotransmitters: ADHD is a neurological condition traced back to the brain’s neurotransmitters. The chemicals dopamine and GABA exist in insufficient amounts in the brains of people with ADHD. Dopamine regulates and promotes arousal; low levels of dopamine result in an under-aroused, “bored” brain. GABA controls inhibition. A person with adequate levels of these neurotransmitters can typically stop himself from eating an entire box of cookies. Someone with low levels does not receive the brain signals alerting him to potential long-term harm — hos brain focuses only on how delicious (and stimulating) the cookies are right now.

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Behavioral Changes to Manage Your Weight

Is your ADHD brain working against your waistline? Yes. Is it pointless to fight back? No. Healthy eating habits may actually lead to improved ADHD symptoms, which in turn leads to healthier eating. Getting started is the hardest part; here are some simple strategies to begin:

1. Spell out your goals. The ADHD brain performs poorly when goals and motivation are only vaguely defined — weight loss resolutions only stick when you know exactly why you’re pursuing them. Think about the small- and big-picture reasons you want to lose weight: To live a longer life? To be more active with your kids? To fit in to that killer black dress again? Keep that goal in mind as you outline your weight-loss plan. With specifics, you’re much more likely to follow through.

2. Plan your meals. Since ADHD leads to poor interoceptive awareness, people with ADHD may not notice they’re hungry until they’re starving. And by that time, it’s often too late to prepare a well-balanced meal because you’ve already called Domino’s. Manage this (and overall impulsivity) by setting aside a time each week to plan your meals so you’re prepared when hunger hits. Try setting an alarm for 7 PM on Thursday, and spend half an hour writing out a grocery list and deciding what you’re going to shop for and eat over the next week. The executive functions involved in this may feel overwhelming at first, but with practice, it will become easier.

3. Practice good sleep hygiene. The first step to losing weight? Get more sleep. People with ADHD — particularly hyperactive type — tend to view sleep as unproductive or boring, but it’s actually critical to rebuilding your body and keeping your brain running smoothly. In addition to regulating your hormone levels, a good night of sleep will render you less moody, less stressed, and less likely to turn to food for comfort in fragile moments. To learn how to improve your sleep hygiene, read this .

Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight will take effort — effort that may feel impossible to overcome, at first. But with clear goals, advanced planning, and better rest that effort will lessen over time. And when it starts to pay off, the results — for both your physical and your mental health — will be well worth it.

[ No More “What’s For Dinner?” Stress ]

1 Fliers, Ellen A. et al. “ADHD Is a Risk Factor for Overweight and Obesity in Children.” Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics : JDBP 34.8 (2013): 10.1097/DBP.0b013e3182a50a67. PMC . Web. 18 July 2017.

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17 Ways Your Job Is Making You Fat

Be on the look out for these work-related waistline expanders.

Weight gain at work

Packing on pounds while climbing the corporate ladder? You’re in good company: in a 2013 Harris Interactive survey of more than 3,000 workers conducted for CareerBuilder, 41% of respondents said they’d gained weight in their current jobs. Workers who spend long hours sitting at a desk (like administrative assistants) and have high stress levels (like engineers and teachers) were more likely to have gained weight.

The truth is, there are lots of reasons your work could be affecting your waistline. “It really has to do with diet, physical activity, and behavior,” says Katherine Tryon, a medical doctor with the Vitality Institute , a global research organization based New York City. Here are some potential factors, and how to steer clear of their consequences.

Hours of sitting

The most obvious cause of work-related weight gain is the lack of physical activity many employees get from (at least) 9 to 5, and in the CareerBuilder survey, workers pointed to “ sitting at my desk most of the day” as the number-one reason for their expanding waistlines. Though it’s true that research shows people who stand or walk throughout the day burn more calories, which can translate to fewer pounds gained over time , a 2013 British study failed to find a strong link between time spent sitting and obesity . The authors say that while sedentary behavior certainly doesn’t help, there are clearly other factors fueling weight gain as well.

Your long commute

In addition to time spent at a desk, the average American spends 25.4 minutes commuting to work and then again to get home, according to the US Census Bureau, and the American Community Survey shows that 86% of workers commute by car. Those who take public transportation to and from work tend to have lower BMIs than those who drive or ride in a car, found a 2014 study published in the British Medical Journal , as do those who walk or ride their bikes. BMI, or body mass index, is a convention for categorizing weight in adults based on weight and height. Its limitations stop it from being a reliable way to determine overall health.

“Businesses need to think about ways to turn commuting into a healthy activity, like offering bike racks and showers to their employees,” says Dr. Tryon.

On-the-job stress

Boss on your case again? Try not to freak out: High levels of the stress hormone cortisol can trigger fat and sugar cravings , and can also cause the body to hang onto fat and store it around the midsection. And a 2014 German study found that work-related stress is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes .

You may also feel like you need to forget healthy habits in order to get ahead, says Frances Largeman-Roth, RD, author of Eating in Color . “Maybe you used to go for a walk at lunch but then you change jobs or get a promotion, and suddenly all eyes are on you,” she says. “You may feel like your daily break from the office is no longer acceptable, so you put in the extra time and your weight suffers.”

Late nights

Employees who burn the midnight oil to meet deadlines or keep up with heavy workloads may also blame their restricted sleep schedule for excess weight gain. In a 2013 University of Pennsylvania study, adults who got only four hours of shuteye a night for five nights in a row gained more weight than those who got eight hours, thanks to the extra meals (and higher-calorie foods) they consumed during late-night hours.

Adults who work multiple jobs, who start work early in the morning, or who commute longer distances are more likely to go without full nights’ sleep , according to a 2014 study also by University of Pennsylvania researchers. The authors suggest that flexible start times may help workers get more sleep overall.

Your lunch options

People who work in or commute through neighborhoods with a lot of drive-thrus are more likely to stop at them, according to a 2014 British study. The study group with the most exposure to takeout joints on the way to and from work was almost twice as likely to be obese, compared to those who were least exposed. “If you don’t have healthy lunch options nearby, you may need to make a real effort to prepare and pack your own food ahead of time,” says Largeman-Roth.

Lack of wellness programs

Dr. Tryon’s own research suggests that employers have a unique opportunity to improve public health by offering incentives and tools, like reduced insurance premiums and weight-loss support groups. But a 2014 research review from Hampshire College found that only 25% of large companies, and only 5% of small businesses, offer comprehensive wellness programs . Why? Companies say the programs cost too much and that they don’t want to meddle in their employees’ business.

Candy jars and freebie tables

In any office, there’s someone who always keeps a bowl of candy out, says Largeman-Roth, and if you’re a dieter or a binger or a stress eater, that person is the enemy. “We know that when you put something delicious out on prominent display, people are going to eat much more of it than if it was tucked away in a desk drawer out of sight.” The same goes for the leftover desserts or doughnuts lurking in the kitchen, she adds. “If there’s a common area for sweets and you know it’s a weakness, you may need to steer clear and not let yourself be tempted .”

Coworkers’ eating habits

If you frequently go to lunch with your colleagues, their unhealthy dietary choices may rub off on you. A 2014 review study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that people tend to conform to “eating norms” in social settings. In other words, if you know other people are ordering high-fat foods , you’re more likely to do the same. This makes sense, especially in a work setting, says Largeman-Roth. “You want to fit in—no one wants to be known as the girl who only eats tofu or drinks green smoothies, so you go along with the crowd even if it’s not what you’d normally order,” she says.

Constant office parties

If your workplace is the type that marks every single birthday, anniversary, and promotion with cake and cookies, watch out: Nearly one in five respondents to the CareerBuilder survey said that these celebrations contributed to their weight gain.

“Employers may see these events as fun perks that boost company morale, so it can be quite controversial to suggest that they may not be so good for their health,” says Dr. Tryon. “The challenge here is in finding ways to celebrate and reward workers that doesn’t necessarily involve forcing sugary foods on them.”

The vending machines

When you’ve got back-to-back meetings and even the cafeteria is too far away, the vending machine can be your savior—at least temporarily. But most of those packaged snack options are high in calories and low in nutrients, says Largeman-Roth.

Instead, try to keep healthy snacks like apples or fruit-and-nut bars at your desk. Before you give into a soda craving, drink a glass of cold water. (Chances are you don’t actually need the caffeine, not to mention the calories.) And if you must visit the vending machine, opt for a small pack of unsalted nuts or trail mix, which has protein and healthy fats to fill you up.

The elevator

When’s the last time you took the stairs at work? Taking the stairs, even if that means changing into sneakers on your lunch break or getting off the elevator a flight or two early in an office high-rise, can add valuable calorie-burning steps to your day, says Dr. Tryon. Employers should take note, too. “Simple environmental changes, like lighting stairwells to make them more appealing for people to use, can create a healthier environment and healthier workers,” Dr. Tryon says.

Lack of sunlight

If you work in a windowless cubicle and you arrive at work before the sun comes up, you could be missing out on a powerful, all-natural weapon against obesity. A 2014 Northwestern University study found that getting bright light in the morning hours seemed to have a slimming effect . Light helps to regulate circadian rhythms, which in turn regulate energy balance and expenditure, say the study authors. They suggest getting 20 to 30 minutes of sunlight between 8 a.m. and noon each day to avoid unwanted weight gain—yet another argument for walking to work or taking that mid-morning break!

Business trips

All the wining-and-dining on business trips can add up: dinners on the company tab, lavish meals with clients or associates, and the lure of regional cuisine are all likely to trigger overeating, even for someone who’s normally very healthy at home, says Largeman-Roth. Plus, traveling for work two weeks or more a month was linked to higher rates of obesity and lower self-reported health in a 2011 Columbia University study. The authors note that 81% of business trips are taken in cars, and that travelers are likely sitting for long hours and making poor food choices.

Overnight shifts

Night-shift workers may be at an even higher risk of obesity than daytime desk jockeys, according to a 2014 University of Colorado at Boulder study. Researchers found that participants burned fewer calories over a three-day period when they slept during the day and stayed up (and ate) through the night than when they followed a normal schedule. The body’s circadian clock can shift over time, the researchers say, but because shift-workers tend to revert to a normal schedule on their days off, their bodies never fully adapt to their work schedules.

Distracted eating

Eating at your desk every day works against your waistline in more ways than one. Not only do you miss out the exercise you would have gotten by walking a few blocks to the sandwich shop, but you’re likely missing out on the full experience of eating. “ You’re multitasking —answering emails, making phone calls, doing online shopping—and you’re not focusing on the enjoyment or the fulfillment of your food,” says Largeman-Roth. “And an hour later, you’ve almost forgotten you ate lunch and you’re already grabbing something else, not realizing you just had a full meal.”

Your digital devices

Job-related obesity triggers don’t always disappear when you leave the office. In an ever-connected society, many employees find themselves tied to a mobile phone even in their so-called off hours, making it harder for them to escape work stress and demands.

Frequent use of these devices has also been linked to increased rates of sedentary behavior, which can in turn lead to unwanted weight gain. In a 2013 Kent State University study, people who used their cell phones most often were also most likely to forego opportunities for physical activity.

Happy hours and networking events

In many offices, after-work drinks are an expected part of the job—it’s where you bond with your coworkers, earn points with your boss, or blow off steam when a project doesn’t go your way. “You feel like you can’t say no, because you don’t want to be the person who’s killing the party,” says Largeman-Roth.

But calories from alcohol —and from those appetizers Susie in accounting just ordered for the table—can add up quickly. And because booze lowers inhibitions and stimulates appetite , the more you drink, the harder it will be to resist those pre-dinner snacks.

—Amanda MacMillan

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A Neuroscientist Tackles 'Why Diets Make Us Fat'

In her new book, neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt tackles why traditional diets don't work for many people, and often leave the dieter worse off than before. PM Images/Getty Images hide caption

In her new book, neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt tackles why traditional diets don't work for many people, and often leave the dieter worse off than before.

When Sandra Aamodt talks about dieting, people listen ... or, they stick their fingers in their ears and go la, la, la. Aamodt's neuroscientific take on why diets backfire is that divisive.

Aamodt is a neuroscientist, book author and former editor of a leading brain research journal. She also has become a prominent evangelist of the message that traditional diets just don't work and often leave the dieter worse off than before. And she's an enthusiastic proponent of mindful eating.

"I define it as eating with attention and joy, without judgment," Aamodt said in an interview. "That includes attention to hunger and fullness, to the experience of eating and to its effects on our bodies."

Even if you've never heard of her, you likely will soon. Her new book, Why Diets Make Us Fat , is bound to change the weight-loss conversation, if not dismantle Biggest Loser -sized dreams. I am a therapist specializing in eating issues, and among my clients, Aamodt has already shifted the focus from weight loss to self-care.

Why Diets Make Us Fat

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Most clients are reluctant to accept her central argument: That our body weight tends to settle at "set points" — that 10- to 15-pound range the brain maintains despite repeated efforts to lower it. However, once they see how the set-point theory reflects their dieting experience, they realize that although they don't have the final say on their weight (their brain does), they do have real influence — through exercise and other health-affirming activities — over their health and well-being.

Of course, there are already dozens of titles out there that expound on the virtues of elevating eating to a meditative practice. No surprise, Aamodt covers much the same ground — but she writes far more on the scientific reasons why eating and weight have become such a sizable problem, and a lot less on specific strategies for rectifying it.

For example, dieting leads to weight gain, she explains, because it's stressful. Stress hormones act on fat cells to increase abdominal fat. What's more, weight anxiety and dieting predict later binge eating and weight gain.

Before she was a neuroscientist, Aamodt was a young girl who just wanted to be thin. So, like many teenage girls who hate their bodies for falling short of cultural beauty ideals, she started cutting calories — and ended up trapped in a vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting bordering on disordered eating.

Fast-forward through three decades of starving and bingeing. Finally in 2010, she made a New Year's resolution to break the cycle.

"As I started to look into the research showing that almost all dieting is yo-yo dieting in practice, I realized that my story was typical, a result of my brain working as it should to protect me from starvation," she says.

So she adopted mindful eating, lost 10 pounds without dieting, and, in 2013, stepped onto the TED conference stage to share her story. More than 3.5 million viewers have since watched Aamodt's cautionary TED Talk .

According to Aamodt, set points vary from person to person, but generally go up much more easily than they come down. It's possible to diet down below the defended range, even for years, but it's nearly impossible to maintain a significant weight loss. That's because the brain is hard-wired for survival and never regards the lower weight as the new normal. It's set on pushing the weight back up as soon as possible.

To be sure, set-point theory is nothing new; it's been around since 1982. But Aamodt's neuroscientific view of set points has brought them back to the dinner table.

In her new book, Aamodt expands on her 12-minute TED Talk to make a more in-depth case for ditching diets, embracing mindful eating and other behaviors that effectively improve and extend our lives. The brain's weight-regulation system will maintain a stable, healthy weight for most people, she argues, if it's allowed to do its job without interference from dieting and other short-sighted slimming strategies. Her best recommendation: Stop focusing on weight and start concentrating on regular exercise, good food choices and stress reduction instead.

"Until I resolved to stop dieting," she writes, "I hadn't realized how much routine stress I was feeling during every meal, how badly the belief that I needed to be slender was damaging my self-image, or how much mental energy I was wasting on trying to control my eating. All in all, I consider leaving dieting behind to be one of the best decisions I've ever made."

While Aamodt stresses that mindful eating won't necessarily lead to weight loss, it will lead to a lot less wasted energy, she says. "Try mindful eating for the benefits you can count on, such as developing a good relationship with food."

That relationship starts early, which is why she hopes parents will be among the readers of her new book. "My strongest hope is that parents will read the book and realize that expressing anxiety about children's bodies is not going to make them thinner," she says. "Instead, it's likely to lead to weight gain and increase the risk of eating disorders."

In 'Eating Lab,' A Psychologist Spills Secrets On Why Diets Fail

Learning to eat mindfully can be tricky for lifelong dieters. "Early on," she says, "I had trouble figuring out whether I was hungry. ... I also had trouble detecting fullness before I'd overeaten." She says it took her about six months to get the hang of it. And, as she tuned in to her body, she discovered something surprising about her own tastes.

"I discovered that I didn't like some of the foods I'd been using to cheat on my diet, like doughnuts or Doritos," she says. "But I still love other treats, like ice cream and strawberry shortcake."

Jean Fain is a Harvard Medical School-affiliated psychotherapist and author of The Self-Compassion Diet.

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Does Eating Fat Make You Fat?

Fats do far more than make pizza, fries, and ice cream so tasty. Dietary fats are an essential part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. 

You heard that right. But not all fats are created equal. Some types of fats contribute to obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease, and your risk of certain cancers. Other types of dietary fat support heart health. All types of dietary fat are calorie-dense, so they help fuel your brain and body with energy. 

The key is to reduce the bad fats in your diet and enjoy healthy fats in moderation.

Why does your body require some dietary fat?

Dietary fats help your body:.

• have energy
• support cell function
• protect organs
• absorb some nutrients
• produce hormones

Why are some fats bad for you?

Just imagine solid fats, like butter and vegetable shortening, making their way through your body. These types of dietary fat are trans and saturated fats that can clog your arteries and raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.  Higher LDL numbers  are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Trans fats can also decrease your HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels, contributing to cardiovascular risk.

All types of fat provide nine calories per gram, which is more than double the number of calories from protein or carbohydrates. No matter where your calories come from, consuming more than you burn can lead to weight gain.

What are trans fats?

Trans fats are found in some animal products (full-fat dairy, red meat, pork, and lamb), partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and stick margarine. Hydrogenated oils are often hidden in doughnuts, cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizzas, cookies, and crackers. Chicken and eggs do not contain trans fats.

What are saturated fats?

Saturated fats are found in tropical oils (coconut and palm/palm kernel oils), beef, pork, chicken and poultry skin, butter, full-fat dairy (like cheese, cream, and ice cream), and eggs.

While saturated fats can help  raise your HDL cholesterol levels , this may not outweigh their impact on elevating your LDL levels. 

How much fat is too much?

The American Heart Association recommends limiting  saturated  and  trans  fats to five to six percent of your total daily calories. That means if you consume 2,000 calories daily to maintain a healthy weight, your daily diet should include no more than 13 grams of these fats. Those who follow  ketogenic diets  often consume way more than this amount.

What are healthy fats?

To maintain a healthy weight while supporting cardiovascular health, opt for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in moderation. 

Unlike trans and saturated fats, these heart-smart fats can help lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol levels. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can also help maintain your body’s cells and bolster your diet with vitamin E, an antioxidant. 

Polyunsaturated fats are also a great source of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Because the body can’t create these “essential fats,” which are needed for certain bodily functions, we get them from whole foods and supplements.

Monounsaturated fats

This type of fat is found in liquid plant oils (such as olive, canola, peanut, safflower, avocado, and sesame oils), avocados, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, and fish (including tuna, pollock, and herring).

Polyunsaturated fats

Polyunsaturated fats are found in liquid plant oils (soybean, corn, and sunflower oils), walnuts, sunflower seeds, tofu, soybeans, and fish (such as salmon, tuna, trout, mackerel, sardines, and herring).

Can you have your cake and eat it, too?

A healthy diet is all about balance. You don’t have to cut out every indulgence to maintain a normal weight and support your heart health. Replace trans and saturated fats with poly- and mono-unsaturated fats. Offset your caloric intake with daily physical activity, and cut back on added sugars to limit empty calories lacking nutritional value.

Written by Dana Kantrowitz, a contributor for UHealth’s news service. Medically reviewed by Michelle Pearlman, M.D., a gastroenterologist.

Tags: amount of trans fats , polyunsaturated fatty acid , processed food , replacing saturated fats , sources of omega-3s

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Does Eating Fat Make You Fat?

Researchers from Harvard University found some surprising results about fat and weight gain. Turns out, it's about more than how much fat you eat.

Elizabeth Ward is a registered dietitian and award-winning nutrition communicator and writer. She has authored or co-authored 10 books for consumers about nutrition at all stages of life.

When it comes to dietary fats, not all varieties are created equal. Some, namely polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, are more heart healthy than others (that would be you, saturated and trans fats). But how does this apply to the age-old question: Does eating fat make you fat? In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers found that certain types of fat are more likely to encourage weight gain—even though all fats have the same calorie count (9 calories per gram).

What the Study Found

Frank Hu, M.D., chair of the department of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and his team examined 20-plus years of data from more than 120,000 women and men , looking specifically at how changes in the types of fat that people ate affected their weight as they aged. They found that when people increased saturated and trans fats in their diets, they were more likely to gain weight, while upping intake of unsaturated fats had no such connection—and was even linked to weight loss.

More: 8 Best Foods to Eat for Weight Loss

One explanation Hu offers is that different types of fats have different metabolic effects on the body. Saturated and trans fats seem to trigger insulin resistance, meaning your cells don't absorb glucose like they're supposed to. As a result, your body increases its output of insulin, a hormone that promotes fat accumulation.

As for unsaturated fats, that's where it gets interesting. In general, adding more monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) caused a slight increase in weight. However, when the researchers teased out animal sources of MUFAs (like red meat and dairy) versus those from plants (nuts and olive oil), only the animal sources increased weight, while plant sources helped keep the scale steady. That's likely because MUFAs and saturated fats are usually a package deal in animal foods, so you get both healthy and not-so-healthy fats.

Meanwhile, foods—like tuna, salmon, walnuts and sunflower seeds­—that are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may prevent weight gain or even help it go down. How? PUFAs appear to promote insulin sensitivity—a good thing for helping the body use food for energy instead of storing it as fat.

The Bottom Line

Weight gain from eating more trans and saturated fats averaged about 1 1/3 pounds per each four-year period in the 20-plus year-long study. This increase may not sound like a big deal, but it could be enough to increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers. Hu recommends replacing 5% of your saturated fat intake with equal amounts of MUFAs and PUFAs. But don't confuse shifting fat with decreasing fat intake. On a 2,000-calorie diet, if you're eating 22 grams of saturated fat, you'd just need to decrease by about 1 g per day. That's like swapping a slice of crumbled bacon on your salad with a generous teaspoon of sliced almonds.

Be careful about what you add back when you reduce your fat intake. "When people reduce the overall fat in their diets, they tend to replace it with refined carbohydrates and added sugar, which may be worse for your health," says Hu.

As long as you focus on quality, there's no need to fear fat. The fat in food helps you to feel satisfied and provides the essential fatty acids your body needs. Enjoy more PUFAs and MUFAs from plant foods as part of a balanced eating plan.

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Does Shift Work Make You Fat? 14 Tips to Avoid Weight Gain

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I never really understood why shift work was linked to weight gain any more than a typical 9-5 job. Surely, by simply working an irregular schedule, our waistlines can’t be impacted that greatly? I got to work and did a bunch of research to figure out if shift work really can make you gain weight and what we can do about it.

Night shift workers are at a higher risk of sleep deprivation which can lead to poor food choices and result in limited motivation to cook healthy, nutritious meals. Appetite hormones are also affected which can cause overeating and consequently weight gain.

This post is not your average “weight loss for shift workers” post. We have already written about that in the posts below, so take a look at these if you do want to successfully lose a few unwanted pounds.

• Weight loss tips when working 12-hour shifts: How Can I Lose Weight Working 12-Hour Night Shifts?
• Keto diet for shift workers: Graveyard Weight Loss: Shift Workers Guide to the Keto Diet
• Intermittent Fasting: Should I Eat on Night Shift? Why Intermittent Fasting Works
• Best weight loss foods: 15 Best Foods for Weight Loss on Night Shift

This post is primarily aimed at those who simply don’t want to gain weight through shift work and maintain a healthy figure without doing anything crazy.

It details 14 insider tips you can use to strategically enjoy the guilty pleasures in life without needing to add an extra hole in your work belt. Let’s jump in.

Does Shift Work Make You Gain Weight?

Quick answer – Yeah, it can.

But why does it impact us more than the 9-5 cousins?

Shift workers, particularly those who work nights and struggle to sleep during the day, who receive less than 7 hours sleep a night, are at a higher risk of weight gain due to sleep deprivation.

But what happens when we are deprived of sleep?

Here are four main points I’ve summarised which I think best explain what’s happening:

1. We Crave Unhealthy Foods All The Time.

When we are tired, we crave unhealthy, high sugar and high carb foods which can give us the energy hit we desperately want. At the time, most of us know the hit is short-lived but we often don’t care because we are so tired and just need a quick fix.

Though it might be harmless to eat this way, after an hour or so you’ll start to feel tired again, craving more sugar, leading to overeating. Doing this consistently, shift after shift, can lead to weight gain.

2. Our Hormones Are Confused.

When we haven’t had enough sleep, our hormones send confusing messages making us feel hungry when we are actually not.

We have two “appetite” hormones called leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends messages to the brain telling it “I’m full” while ghrelin sends the “I’m hungry” message. I remember the two by ghrelin is “growling” at me to eat…

When we are tired, the body increases the “I’m hungry” ghrelin hormone while decreasing the level of leptin.

Cut a long story short… We are convinced to keep snacking even when we might not be hungry at all, leading to overeating and heightening the risk of obesity.

3. We Lack Motivation

We are less motivated to exercise if we are exhausted and even when we do, the workout is less effective.

Yeah. Even if you make the effort to go to the gym and workout for 4-5 hours, the workout will be nowhere near as good vs. having 7-9 hours sleep. (source)

4. Our Digestion Works Differently Overnight

While the sun is down, such as during a night shift, our digestive system slows down and changes the way it works, going into “hibernation mode” (at times).

One of the big changes that occur during this time is our body produces LESS insulin to break down the food we eat, thus impacting our metabolism. This can be a big issue if we keep eating big, carb-rich foods overnight as there are fewer hormones and chemicals present to break down this food into energy we can actually use.

So based on all that, I think to successfully maintain a healthy weight and avoid putting on the unwanted pounds whilst being a shift worker, you need to focus on four main key areas:

• Prioritizing sleep for 7-9 hours every single day even when working night shift or the often challenging rotating shift schedule. (Read our helpful complete guide to rotating shift work here ).
• Thinking not only about what you eat but when you eat
• Is the simple equation of calories in vs calories burnt, canceling each other out?
• Having a strong sense of self-belief, determination and setting a high standard for yourself – even when you’re tired.

Taking into account these four points and what is actually happening in the body when we haven’t had enough sleep, let’s dive into the tips stopping you from gaining weight as a shift worker.

1. Stop Delaying Bedtime on Night Shift

How much sleep are you honestly getting every day/night depending on your shift? 4,5,6 hours at the most? I hate to be the sleep police but it’s just not enough.

BUT before you yell at me for being inconsiderate, I know it’s easier said than done to just get more sleep as a shift worker. As an ER nurse myself I know how hard it can be to switch off and simply float into la-la land.

Kids, long hours, your ability to wind down quickly and also your love for Netflix and playing games are a few of the other roadblocks you’ve probably faced.

So moving forward, whatever shift you’re on, work out when an appropriate bedtime is for you in order to get 7-9 hours of sleep. Don’t assume you know the time and actually count back to see when you really need to be asleep. Be strict with yourself about this bedtime if you want to take your personal weight goals seriously.

Here are some things you’re probably doing before bed which keep you awake. These are the areas we suggest you attack head on first and foremost :

• Watching TV or a movie in bed. Resist this. Let your mind and body make the connection between your bedroom and sleep – not your home cinema. Also, don’t be tempted to put on a full-length feature film like Titanic 30 minutes before your bedtime. Despite being an epically great film, we all know how it ends and sleep is more important.
• Doing your jobs. Don’t run errands, meal prep, talk to the neighbor or call a chatty friend on the phone just for a yarn . As overwhelming as this may be, attend to these things once you get up. Of course, if something is urgent like taking the kids to school, then you are left with no choice. The things we think are super important can sometimes wait 8 hours. If you work nights, your aim should be to be in bed within 30 minutes – 1 hour of getting home.

Read, Working 2nd Shift With A Family: How To Remain A Solid Unit to learn more useful tricks.

• Becoming stressed at the thought of sleeping in one big chunk. If this sounds like you, stop getting anxious. If you need to break up sleep into a few, then go for it. A podcast I love will back me up here too. As long as you can fall back to sleep easily later on. And you’re still able to get 7-9 hours sleep in a 24 hour period. (source)

Need a reminder/alarm to go to sleep? Use the “bedtime” feature if you have an iPhone (within the clock settings), to remind you when bedtime is. The alarm is annoying when you’re in the middle of something but I think it works a treat. Similar settings I’m sure can be found on Android devices or through an app which can make a huge difference when creating new habits.

I used to think that sleeping was “wasting time” as I could be working, cleaning and being productive, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Your body and mind NEED time to relax, recoup and process all the stuff you did during the day . There is a reason why mother nature designed humans to sleep for a 1/3 of the day… so we can’t keep ignoring it and pretend we can function on less sleep if we really want to keep control of our weight.

If you are having trouble sleeping once you do finally jump into bed, we created a specific post you’re going to love titled, Can’t Sleep After Night Shift? 13 Weird Tips That Actually Work​ . This was a really fun post to write and I learned a bunch of new techniques I use and love when sleeping seems impossible.

2. Block Out The Blue Light

While on the topic of sleep, have you heard about blue light?

It’s the light coming from the sun during the day and also the artificial light from your phone, TV, bedside lamp and also the fridge.

This light is great during the day, when on day shift, afternoon/2nd shift and even on a day off, to reset our body clock. But before bed, it’s no good.

Our sleep hormone melatonin LOVES darkness in order to work properly. So blocking out any form of light 90 minutes – 2 hours before we sleep is ideal.

But I don’t expect you to walk around your house while it’s pitch black, as you’ll end up black and blue from walking into furniture, walls and kids toys.

Instead, here are a few things you can do to block out the blue light and stay best of friends with your sleep hormones.

• Dan and I wear them every single day and night in the window before bed, regardless of the shift we are on. We recommend them to you without a speck of hesitation because we have seen results first hand. Check out our recommended shift work tools page here and explore our buyers guide to these glasses and why you need a pair.
• Charge your phone OUTSIDE the bedroom. I know this may seem foreign, almost like I’ve cut off your right arm, but the lack of distraction and blue light will work wonders for your sleep hormones and even better for your relationship. If you need to carry a pager for work, this bad boy can also remain outside the bedroom too. If you are on-call or need your phone for extreme personal reasons, these are two exceptions to needing a phone by your bedside. Otherwise, get it out of there.

But what about an alarm to get my butt out of bed ? We created a list of the best alarm clocks for shift workers, but particularly for those who work nights. These come with some funky settings to help you even fall asleep quick smart. Check out the post here – 7 Best Alarm Clocks For Night Shift Workers .

• Use blackout blinds Before you leave for a night shift in particular, close the curtains. This makes sure your bedroom is primed and ready once you get home. Here are our recommended blackout blinds via our shift work tools page. The two options we give are very reasonably priced and easy to install for an almost 100% black-out experience.

There is no need to put up with the light in your bedroom anymore – particularly if it can lead to weight gain!

• Wear an eye mask which is comfortable and doesn’t fall off In order to block out the remaining light, wear an eye mask. There is a heap to choose from which we compared in this article, Top Selling Eye Masks for Sleeping For Total Block-Out. But here are the top eye masks we recommend (pictured below) and why.
• Sleep in the basement or a room with fewer windows. This is also great to limit the noise of dogs barking and street traffic. If living in an apartment block, ask for the apartment on the top floor. There is then no need to be distracted by footsteps above you.

Don’t forget about minimizing the noise for the sake of your waistline. Consider using white noise machines, earplugs ( here are our favorite ), carpeting your bedrooms and also listening to sleep meditative music such as these beauties!

The bottom line here is to take the time to block out the blue light in order to get great sleep AND protect your eyes because as we know, not getting enough sleep can lead to a pretty dire situation causing more than just weight gain.

Interested in what else being sleep deprived can do for us? Read Is Night Shift Bad For You? 11 Truths Uncovered .

3. Let the Light In After Waking from Night Shift

While blocking out the light before you sleep is important, it’s equally vital to push open the blinds and let the sunlight in just after waking.

The sunlight (vitamin D) is not only great for bone development, disease prevention and cell growth but it’s also effective for keeping our waistlines at bay. (source)

Remember the appetite hormones leptin we spoke about earlier? It’s the one which tells the brain we are full.

Studies show that leptin levels were higher in sleep-deprived adults who were exposed to bright blue light in comparison to only dim-light (source) . We want more of this hormone, telling our brains and bellies we are full to prevent snacking and overeating.

So bring on the light anytime – except in the 2 hours before bed.

Personally, I also think when the sun is shining it boosts my desire to exercise outside and puts me in a darn good mood. Another reason to get out in the sun!

If you want a double boost of vitamin D, try eating foods which are rich in the stuff like:

• Salmon – A 3.5-ounce serving makes up 90% of your recommended daily value (400 IU)!

What about a vitamin D supplement? Do I need one? Will they help me not gain weight? If you are spending enough time outside in the sunshine, you probably won’t need to take a supplement. But if you’re struggling to meet the requirements due to your shift work roster, taking a supplement is safe and even effective in helping boost your vitamin D levels (source) Look for a vitamin D supplement that contains vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol. Remember to always seek advice from your doctor if you’re starting a new supplement.

Related Posts:

• Adjust to night shift: How Long Does It Take to Adjust to Night Shift?
• Not getting sick: How to Work Night Shift, Stay Healthy and Not Get Sick
• No Sleep: 8 Useful Hacks For Surviving Night Shift With No Sleep

When waking from the night shift, this is also the perfect time to weigh yourself. Find out more about the timing of this mundane but important task here in a post we recently put together .

4. Turn Down the Thermostat

Again, another tip in the sleeping department to prevent weight gain…

Did you know our body naturally cools when you sleep? That’s why we feel the 4am chill on night shift …

Don’t make its job any harder than it needs to be by making your bedroom all warm and cuddly once you get home.

Keep the temperature in your bedroom 65 to 70 degrees Farenheight and resist wearing heavy PJ’s often causing you to wake due to overheating. Don’t forget to also use a fan or the air-con.

To give the body and brain one final boost in the temperature department to help you sleep, why not take a warm bath or shower just before bed?

By increasing your body temperature in the shower/bath then suddenly dropping it once you get out, it can signal to your brain it’s time for bed.

What about Aromatherapy? Can that help with sleep too? The jury is still out wether smelling essential oils can suppress our appetite and make us eat less. (source) But what is known is lavender, vanilla, green apple and cucumber promote relaxation which can help you get better sleep, effective in preventing weight gain. Here is our favorite lavender oil on Amazon.

5. Eat Fewer Calories If…

You’re not burning them off.

I mentioned in the into, this post is not a weight loss article but more so a healthy guide to not gaining weight. Not every shift worker wants to lose weight and is happy where they are, despite what the media portray.

But in order to maintain a healthy weight consistently and stick within a happy range, we do still need to be aware of what we are using to fuel our bodies at every time of day. Yeah, unfortunately, what you eat on night shift counts too…

You may have heard that what we eat accounts for about 80% and exercise counts for the other 20%. So it doesn’t matter if you exercise for 3 hours at the gym, burning off hundreds of calories, if you are eating total garbage every other moment.

Yes, these exercise fanatics can probably eat a higher volume of food and more snacks because they are burning it off, but it must be in moderation otherwise the scales tip and you’ll most likely get sick in the long run.

But what does this mean for us working shift work?

Simply. The number of calories we eat and drink needs to be on par with what we are burning off in exercise and movement. You don’t have to diet to avoid putting on weight while working shift work but you need to be aware.

But How Many Calories Are We Allowed Every Day?

• Women need to eat around 1500 calories to lose weight and 2000 to maintain their weight
• Men, on the other hand, need to eat around 2000 to lose weight and 2500 to maintain a healthy weight.

So, if you simply want to stay the same weight eat either 2000 calories if you’re a lady, or 2500 if you’re a bloke.

If you want to keep track of your calories digitally instead of having to write it down constantly, this is a hugely popular watch and fitness tracker worth exploring on Amazon.

The funny part about this whole calorie thing is you could eat a Big Mac, medium fries and drink for a whopping 1100 calories and still lose weight… if you don’t eat anything else and don’t exercise.

This is of course NOT something we recommend at all, so don’t try it . You’ll get sick , run down and it just won’t be very fun for you.

Instead, we recommend a few other things:

• Be aware of the high-calorie items. For the last 10 years of working shift work, my weight has stayed pretty much the same and I NEVER counted calories. But I was aware of the foods (like honeybuns!) which sucked my calorie count due to the carbs and sugar and made sure I ate these in moderation.
• Eat sweets sparingly I’m not great at totally ruling out the sweet stuff because well, I love sweet stuff. But I am aware now, after giving calorie counting a whirl, what to be wary of. Before you dive into the packet of chips, chocolate or your favorite donut, see how many calories you have left for the day to not put on weight. If you still have “calories left”, even after a rough estimate, then go for it.
• Exercise to eat. Dan and I always joke that we exercise to eat. While we try not to be pigs and overeat, we do make an effort to exercise every day to maintain balance when we do overindulge ourselves. The fact of the matter is, in order to keep the scales level we need to either eat less or exercise more in order to burn the calories we ate the previous day.
• Filling at least half of your plate or container of food with veggies. I’m sure this is no surprise, but the calories in most veggies are super low but fill you up nicely. When making a meal make sure at least half the plate is full of these colorful veggies and the other two parts with protein and whole grains. Don’t complicate this process.
• Use a smaller plate. Physically using a smaller plate or container ensures you are not overeating, unless you go back for seconds and thirds! If you need new containers, get these. They don’t warp in the microwave, stain after eating spaghetti and smell after repeated use.
• Use the slow cooker. Is there a more shift work friendly appliance? Creating multiple, healthy meals allows you constant access to filling food without needing to rely on the vending machine. Here are our favorite slow cooker and pressure cookers via our shift work tools page.

I created a general table of the foods which are filling but low in carbs, which I recommended adding into your diet to prevent snacking, particularly when tired.

Source ( 1 ), ( 2 ), ( 3 )

This is not a diet. This is just a way of living where you have a nice balance between the good, the bad stuff and what get’s burnt off through exercise. Just ruling out everything “bad” with a big black sharpie is not what we are about as everyone has an off day, but you have to manage these guilty pleasures.

6. Don’t Eat When Your Body Is Not Ready to Process the Food

I was shocked to learn recently that I have been eating at the wrong times for my entire nursing career!

I thought it was fine to eat a big “lunch” or “second dinner” between 1-5am when working as that’s what I had always been told and witnessed in various tea rooms.

But it seems that advice was actually wrong. Smaller snacks more often is the key. Not big, gigantic meals overnight …

Why? I mentioned in the intro that our digestive system and metabolism slows down during the night or during the time we are programmed to be sleeping.

If we eat big, carb-heavy meals during this time our digestive system cannot cope and we often feel bloated, nauseous, suffer from stomach pain and experience bowel issues during and after the 3rd shift.

Other shift workers also complain of gastric ulcers, peptic ulcers and gastritis when things get bad.

Here are a few times of the day shift workers really need to be aware of in order to stay friends with our digestion system.

I have also given you a few food and drink options you can enjoy during this time to avoid feeling horrible and sluggish after eating.

The Bottom Line Here…

Is to resist eating large, carb-heavy type meals when our body is not ready for it.

Use the sun as a guide. If it’s still dark outside, such as on night shift or before an early shift, our digestive system is not ready for a big meal. During this time it’s best to stay hydrated and eat small filling snacks (such as in the related posts below) and then wait till the sun is up before enjoying a larger meal.

Related posts:

• Meal prep: 12 Valuable Meal Prep Tips for Busy Shift Workers
• Meal Ideas: 6 Healthy, Freezable Shift Work Meal Ideas For Beginners

7. Skip the coffee and beer 5-6 hours before bed

Coffee is a wonderful stimulant and an incredible source of antioxidants used by almost 100% of shift workers around the world – except myself and Dan.

And while caffeine works brilliantly to keep us alert and focused, most find it impacts negatively on their sleep and we know the issue with that.

A good rule of thumb is to avoid drinking coffee or any type of caffeine such as soda, energy drinks and even chocolate 5-6 hours before you jump into bed.

Caffeine can stay in our system for up to 12 hours making sleep almost impossible for some – and weight gain therefore inevitable.

As for alcohol, it can wreak havoc with the stage of sleep responsible for processing information- rapid eye movement (REM).

Plus, it can make us want to wee ALL THE TIME! Skip the morning beers after a night shift and consider the shift you’ve got the next day if thinking of having a few drinks with dinner while on day shift.

If you’re wondering about the number of calories in alcohol, I put together a table comparing some popular drinks for you.

This gives us both an indication of what we’re in for if we happen to drink a few beers after a shift, plus have take out and ice cream on the way home while skipping the gym.. . (yeah, we’ve all been there!)

Source ( 3 ), ( 4 ), ( 5 )

Dan and I love “a cold one” as much as the next shift worker but it comes down to two things.

• Are you able to burn it off the next day and not let those calories be stored as fat leading to weight gain?
• Will drinking that alcoholic beverage prevent you from falling asleep, resulting in frequent sleep disturbance? Or cause you to feel really lousy the next day leading to poor “hungover” food choices?

Just think about this before reaching for the bottle opener…

Read more about the effects of drinking alcohol after a shift by clicking on the image below.

8. Small Meals Before Bed

A pizza for breakfast after a night shift or a big bowl of nachos after a 2nd shift or swing shift may seem like the perfect way to reward your efforts after a shift. But unfortunately, you will likely be left with more than a stomach ache and a bloated belly when your head hits the pillow.

Instead stick to smaller, but super filling meals like my two favorites:

• A bowl of warm oatmeal with banana, warmed frozen berries and no-fat yogurt

If you want more breakfast ideas, you’ll find them through these two posts:

• What to eat after night shift: What Should I Eat After Working Night Shift?
• Breakfast ideas: 6 Quick and Healthy Night Shift Breakfast Meal Ideas

But what if I’m not hungry? Try and force yourself to have a few mouthfuls of something. I have often skipped breakfast after nights or not eaten a snack after finishing the swing shift and woke up feeling hungry a few hours later. It’s hard to eat then go back to sleep immediately – plus it puts me in a bad mood…

9. Having a Bad Eating Day? Get a Jump Rope

We can all slip up from time to time and eat too much of the high-calorie stuff. But don’t beat yourself up about it by eating more and instead reach for the jump rope.

This simple childhood toy burns an INSANE amount of calories in a short amount of time because it’s a whole body work out.

Yes, it hurts. Yes, it’s hard and my goodness it makes you sweat. But it’s without a doubt one of the best forms of exercise I have found as a shift worker.

Here are some of the other reasons why we love to jump rope:

• Super cheap
• Doesn’t require much skill
• Easily use distraction techniques to get better and forget about how long you’ve been jumping for.

I created a quick table for you to compare jumping rope with common other activities you may do to keep fit. This gives you a good idea about how effective jump rope really is.

Source ( 5 ), ( 6 ) , ( 7 ) * These numbers are all approximate and vary based on intensity, weight of the rope and the persons body weight among a range of other factors.

Bottom line: By jumping rope for 15-30 minutes per day and combining this with bringing your own healthy meals to work, you could see less wobbly bits and even feel stronger. Remember, if you want to eat more and still stay the same weight…you need to burn it off and jump rope is a great way to do this.

Here are our favorite ropes and sports bra for the ladies!

10. Can’t Jump Rope? Pre-Pay for Exercise

I get that not everyone can jump rope for health reasons, so I wanted to give you another effective tip for burning off those extra calories and that’s pre-paying for exercise.

Simply using motivation as your key driver to exercise is often, well for me anyway , not enough. I need a bigger kick up the butt to get moving, particularly after a 1st shift followed by a 2nd shift or during a run of nights.

One way to do this is to pre-pay for some kind of exercise class, membership or fitness app because nobody wants to waste money right?

If you and a friend or “work out buddy” pre-pay for something together the motivation to change into your activewear and leave the house is far greater. So I suggest finding a friend, maybe somebody at work or even a family member with similar goals and roster and workout together.

To get moving regularly, I personally use an app called 28 by Sam Wood . While it’s more expensive than a 24-hour gym membership I get A LOT more out if it.

The daily videos with commentary make sure my technique is on point and the meal plans are easy enough anybody can do them. And that’s coming from somebody not great in the kitchen.

If your interested to learn more, check out our link here and receive a discount off your first month’s membership. Here is an example of one of the videos in the program.

11. Drink a Different Kind of Fizzy Drink To Avoiding Getting Fat on Night Shift

If you’re a shift worker, there is a high chance you are holding an energy drink right now. Am I correct? Take a look at the sugar content on the back.

Anything less than 6g of sugar is okay but I’m guessing what you’re drinking is a little more than that…

While energy drinks and soda can give us an energy boost, particularly when we are feeling tired, there are three major flaws in using this strategy when trying to maintain a healthy weight.

• The sugar is often WAY too high, being stored as fat, if we don’t exercise consistently
• The amount of caffeine can be detrimental to our sleep if drunk too close before bedtime
• Energy drinks have been linked to causing heart pumping issues (source)

So what can you drink instead? Lots of delicious things!

• Kombucha – Also fizzy making it feel like you’re drinking soda but it’s actually great for your gut health
• Coconut water – often labeled as “natures sports drink” because of how refreshing it is
• Water with fruit (check out our favorite drink bottle here to infuse the fruit without the pips)
• Homemade green smoothies
• Plain old water to stop headaches, constipation and making the body work harder then it needs to.

Check out a recent post we wrote about the energy-boosting drinks you can consume during your next shift by clicking on the image below.

12. Eat Watermelon!

Random. What’s so good about watermelon to help us prevent weight gain? It’s FULL of water!

The more hydrated you are the better your metabolism will work. This is the key to breaking down calories and fat into energy your body can use as your digestive organs are not needing to work harder for the same outcome.

If our digestive system is sluggish due to dehydration, our foods can be easily stored as fats leading to unwanted weight gain.

But as shift workers, we often get caught out thinking we only lose water when we visit the bathroom to pee. Where water can, in fact, be lost through lots of other ways like sweat, breathing, coughing, talking, pooping and crying. We can also lose even more water when we are unwell through diarrhea and vomiting.

The trick is to not focus on how many times you’ve been to the bathroom when determining how much water you should drink. Instead, aim for 2 liters every day, which equates to about 8-ounce glasses or half a gallon.  (source)

Just a quick note…these numbers are a good rule of thumb for most people but can vary depending on the particular diet you’re on, the health of your heart and lots of other factors. If you are not sure, ask your doctor.

If you struggle to drink this much water, here are a few other ways to boost your water intake through food with a high water percentage such as:

13. Maintain Rituals and Do the Things You Love

How does this lead to preventing weight gain? Well, do you emotionally eat when something is not quite going right or you feel sad about something like missing your dog and your kids?

I know people joke about this stuff, comparing themselves to Bridget Jones’ Diary, but the struggle is real for us when our roster is not playing ball.

But don’t give yourself an excuse to overeat or not exercise because you’re feeling sad. Nip that in the butt by continuing to make time for the things you love most. Date nights, working in the garden, spending time with your kids and playing with your dog is still possible if we are smart about it.

We recently wrote a post titled, 13 Advantages of Shift Work for Employees and Working 2nd Shift With A Family: How To Remain A Solid Unit which I think are valuable right about now

14. Set High Standards for Yourself

To maintain a healthy weight while working shift you need to set high standards for yourself. Expect more from yourself and don’t tolerate your own hand reaching in for a few more chips when you know you have far exceeded your calories for the day – even without counting.

You are better than this.

If you told yourself you’re going to start exercising every day, even in small lots, you have to do it. Even if you have pre-paid for a class or have a friend asking if you want to come for a run, in the end, it’s up to you to make it happen.

The other advice (actually this one is form Dan) is to visualize success.

Stop thinking about yourself as a “big person” or “big boned” who will always struggle with weight. If you’ve already made your mind up about yourself you will never move past this point in the long term. Positive thoughts!

You can stay healthy and maintain weight if you first believe in yourself and think positively about the direction you want to go.

Keep Reading…

• Burnout: Shift Work Burnout: Causes, Red Flags And How To Beat It​
• Stop weight gain: How to Stop Holiday Weight Gain from Snowballing
• Prepare for night shift: How To Best Prepare for the Night Shift and Stay Healthy
• Days off: Help! Should I Stick to a Night Shift Schedule on Days Off?
• Staying fit: How To Stay Fit While Working Nights: 12 Sneaky Tips “

The key to staying a healthy weight and preventing the numbers on the scales climbing is all about three things; moderation, timing and sleep.

You can still have a piece of candy, donut and the extra coffee but you need to ask yourself…

• What time is it and can my body actually process this meal?
• Have I eaten too much “bad,” high-calorie foods today and there is no chance I will burn that off any time soon?
• Am I getting 7-9 hours sleep every day/night? Is this food or drink item going to impact the quality and amount of sleep I get, if I eat it?

I wish you all the very best in your shift work journey to a maintaining a healthy you.

Next up, Tackling Obesity: A Guide for Night Shift Workers .

Emma @ The Other Shift

Hey there! I'm Emma Smith a passionate, Registered Nurse from Australia. Together with my husband Daniel, we run The Other Shift. Our sole aim is to help shift workers and those on unusual schedules find balance between work and life. I understand the challenges of fitting in exercise, maintaining relationships and getting enough quality sleep, but I'm excited to show you that it’s possible to do shift work and still thrive. Read more about us and our story here.

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Why Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat!

“The plan you’re putting me on includes lots of nuts, seeds, coconut oil, avocados, eggs, and even some butter,” a patient recently told me. “I can’t shake my fear of fat. I think all this food is going to make me gain weight.”

If you can identify with this patient, you’re not alone. Even I once had a fear of fat while growing up. I subscribed to the antiquated “all calories are the same” myth, a mentality that demonizes fat. After all, eating fat makes you fat, right? End of story.

From a caloric perspective, that makes sense. Dietary fat contains nine calories per gram, versus the four calories per gram for carbs and protein. If you eat less fat, you will eat fewer calories, and you will lose weight – easy and done, right?

Unfortunately, that theory doesn’t work for many reasons. The theory that all calories have the same impact on your weight and metabolism remains one of the most persistent nutrition myths that keeps us fat and sick.

All calories are the same in a laboratory when you burn them in a vacuum. However, your body is not a laboratory. It is an intricate, interconnected organism that simultaneously juggles thousands of duties.

Food controls everything. Food affects the expression of your genes that cause or prevent disease. In other words, food literally turns on health genes or disease genes. It tells those genes to store or burn fat. Food influences your hormones, your brain chemistry, your immune system and even your gut flora.

Let’s look at just one example of how our society places importance on the number of calories, not the quality.   Newer public policies require restaurants to list calorie contents next to menu items. This becomes an example of completely misguided policies about helping people make better food choices. Calories from a Cinnabon, for example, are different than calories from an avocado in how they affect your hormones, your metabolism and even your appetite.   Sadly, mainstream thinking has not caught up.

This is not some hypothetical idea. Food affects your metabolism at every level. It works fast in real time with every single bite. That ultimately becomes very empowering: You can change your health starting with your very next meal!

Eating Fat Helps You Burn MORE Calories

Kevin Hall, from the National Institutes of Health, studies mathematical systems and biology. He found when you measure every ounce of food, every movement, every breath and every calorie burned, you find that those who ate more fat compared to an identical amount of carbs burned over 100 more calories a day . Over a year, that amounts to about a 10-pound weight loss from doing no more exercise.

Hall also reported studies on brain imaging and brain function that found eating more fat actually shuts off your brain’s hunger and craving centers. Eating healthy fats improves things like food intake, taste preferences and even your metabolism.

Dietary fat – again, higher in calories per gram than carbs or protein – can positively impact the whole calorie-burning process. It’s a mind bender, right?

I have long pondered what really causes weight gain for most people. If I asked random people on the street, they would likely reply overeating or eating too much fat makes us gain weight. Sounds like a reasonable assumption right?

Yet in a brilliant paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) , Harvard professor Dr. David Ludwig lays out the case for a very different view of obesity and metabolism .

Ludwig argues we don’t get fat from eating more and exercising less. Instead, it’s the reverse – being fat makes you eat more and exercise less. Essentially your fat cells get hungry and drive you to overeat.

How We Gain Weight: Hungry Fat Cells

Here’s how this plays out in your biology.

The first domino to fall is when sugar – and remember, all processed carbs including wheat bread turn to sugar – spikes your fat-storing hormone insulin .

You don’t even have to be overweight at that point. Insulin then drives all available fuel in your bloodstream into your fat cells, especially those around your middle that we call visceral fat, organ fat or most commonly, belly fat. This stimulates your brain to make you eat more.

The second thing is when you try to restrict calories and exercise more – the typical solution to lose weight – your body becomes alarmed, fearing you’re starving. That makes you tired, so you move less to conserve energy. It makes you hungry, so you eat more.

Evolutionarily, this makes sense: Until you find food, your metabolism slows down so you don’t die. That was important at one point in human history; however, it’s clearly not a problem today because we live in a food carnival.

Attempts at weight loss that follow the “eat-less, exercise-more” formula ultimately fail most people. Sure, it can work for a little bit, but you will almost always rebound and gain the weight back.

In fact, less than 10 percent of people who lose weight can keep it off for a year. You can walk around hungry and tired for a bit, but not for long. By not eating enough food, you place your body into a starvation mode.

Here’s where it gets interesting. You can also starve your body by eating the wrong foods; namely, too much sugar and refined carbs. When you eat a lot of sugar and carbs, your body thinks it’s starving.

Sounds a bit counterintuitive, right? How can your body act like it’s starving when there’s plenty of calories and food around?

Well, when you eat sugar, refined carbs or anything that raises your blood sugar, it causes a spike in your fat storage hormone   – insulin. Then,   a vicious cycle that includes hunger, cravings and overeating ensues.

Speed Up Your Metabolism with a High Fat Diet

In human experiments, those who ate high-fat diets had a much faster metabolism . Low-fat, high-carb diets spiked insulin, subsequently slowing their metabolism and storing belly fat. The higher-fat diet group had a faster metabolism, even eating the same amount of calories.

Another human study, also conducted by Dr. Ludwig and his Harvard colleagues, compared high-fat, low-carb diets with high-carb, low-fat diets in a controlled feeding study (where researchers provided all the food).   Again, the high-fat group did better.

These same researchers subsequently did something called a crossover trial, where you use the same study subjects to test different diets. For half the study, they ate one way; for the second half, they ate the opposite diet. So half the group ate high-fat, low-carb and half ate low-fat, high-carb; then they flipped those diets for the second part of the study.

This type of study allows researchers to study the effects on metabolism for different diets on the same person, creating a more accurate, comprehensive picture about the most effective eating plan.

While their macronutrient ratios differed, both groups ate the exact same number of calories for each diet.

What happened was shocking. The high-fat group ended up burning 300 more calories a day than the low-fat group. The high-fat group also had the most improvements in cholesterol, including lower triglycerides, lower LDL, and lower levels of PIA-1 (that shows a less likelihood of having blood clots or inflammation ). They also showed bigger improvements with insulin resistance or pre-diabetes .

The take-home here is that most of your fat-cell biology becomes controlled by the quality and type of the food you eat. That explains why we should eat a quality fat , whole-food diet that’s lower in refined carbohydrates, low-glycemic and high in fiber. That plan would include healthy fats like avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts and seeds, and eggs.

If you have increased the amount of quality dietary fats in your diet, how has that affected your health and how you feel? I love avocado and coconut butter: What are YOUR favorite healthy fats? Share yours below or on my Facebook page .

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Myth Buster: How Your Healthy Nut Habit Might Be Making You Fat

If you squint real hard, you might be able to see the glimmering health halo that sits forever atop an almond, a macadamia, or even a peanut. It's no wonder: Tree nuts and legumes contain good-for-you monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, various vitamins, fiber, antioxidants, and other bioactive compounds that reduce your chances of dying from diabetes; respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases; and cancer, according to a 2015 study in the International Journal of Epidemiology .

MORE: 4 Things You Need to Know About Nut Butter before Buying

Your favorite clean-eating snack comes with a big, crunchy caveat, though: "Nuts are very calorically dense, so it's supereasy to overeat and thus gain weight," says Albertson. Feeding the problem is the fact that we're pretty clueless when it comes to serving sizes. "It is confusing," admits Albertson. "For instance, 23 almonds is a great size snack, but 23 Brazil nuts is about four times the proper serving." And because nuts are "healthy," we easily forget that we can overdo it. "When you think something is good for you, you often go the more-the-better route, which is simply wishful thinking," notes Lisa R. Young, PhD, RD, author of The Portion Teller Plan and an adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University. While the line between weight loss helper and weight gain instigator is thin, stay on the right side of it with these seven expert tips. (Also check out 5 ways to avoid a pig out .)

Don't eat nuts like microwave popcorn. "Nuts are often sold in bulk or large packages, which makes it easy to mindlessly reach in and overeat," says Albertson. (Remember that half bag of almonds you annihilated during Game of Thrones ? Yeah. That's mindless eating.) To sidestep the problem, portion out your snacks in single-serve baggies or containers ahead of time. 

Get schooled in proper portion sizes.

"A serving size of nuts, regardless of the variety, is 1 ounce," says Albertson. "In general, this is equivalent to about a small handful or a quarter cup." Here is how it (roughly) shakes out:

49 Pistachios 28 Peanuts 23 Almonds 21 Hazelnuts 19 Pecan halves 18 Cashews 10-12 Macadamia nuts 6 Brazil nuts

MORE: This is What a Perfect Day of Clean Eating Looks Like

Pick a lower-cal variety. If maintaining—or losing—weight is a top priority, know that cashews, pistachios, peanuts, and almonds contain the fewest calories per serving with roughly 160 per ounce.

Buy your nuts au naturel. Look for dry roasted or raw nuts since they have no sugar, salt, oil, or anything else added to them. If the super-important word "dry" does not precede "roasted," skip it. Those nuts contain added vegetable oil and salt.

MORE: 6 Nut Butter Flavors You Never Knew Existed

Make more work for yourself.

When you choose nuts that are still in the shell, not only do you guarantee that there are no added ingredients, you'll likely avoid overeating. By the time you crack and eat each nut, your body has had a chance to register that it's full. Also, "when you eat nuts in the shell, you see your portion after you've eaten it, which is a good reality check," says Young. (Looking for ways to lose weight without dieting? Read about how eating more flavorful foods  can help.)

Think beyond the snack. You can also roadblock your overeating if you incorporate nuts into your favorite dishes. Simply measure out the proper portion and add your nut of choice to your morning yogurt or oatmeal. Sprinkle it atop roasted veggies or a salad. Use them in a stir-fry. Or give your favorite whole grain pasta dish extra crunch by tossing in some crushed nuts.

Don't forget nut butters. The same rules apply. A proper serving is about 2 tablespoons, which will set you back roughly 200 calories. Take out the measuring spoons before digging in—or buy single-serve nut butters like Justin's Nut Butter Classic Almond Butter Squeeze Packs.

Holly Pevzner is a writer, content creator, and award-winning former senior-level editor at Self , Prevention , Fitness , and Scholastic Parent & Child magazines. She’s spent over 20 years tackling and finessing stories about all things health, nutrition, pregnancy, parenting, and family travel.

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